Halo: Legends Reborn: Apple Of Creation
by freerider2901
Summary: Adam, Spartan E229 and Officer Zhar Zehiomie have been through just about everything, but when an accident with a ancient Forerunner portal device sends them to a strange, new world, their abilities, teamwork, and even friendship are put to the test.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone. Chapter one reuploaded!**

**AND ITS NORMAL! JOY!**

2300 hours

Currently in orbit around planet Jacinto

On board USSC Frigate Invincible

Alronta System

Adam, Spartan identification E229 stood in the briefing room on board the USSC vessel Invincible. After their last mission, Adam was surprised when the General was able to get the ship back to use for Gold Teams deployments. At the same time he reasoned that the General had to pull some strings to get it back.

HE looked over to his team. Samantha, Spartan identification number E470, like Adam, stood at attention as she waited for the General to enter the room. Adam then spied Samantha glaring at Jak and Scott, who were both staring at a data pad, grinning in a strange manner. He couldn't see the screen, but he knew if they we're grinning, it was better not thinking about it.

"Would you idiots put that away? The General could walk in any minute!" Samantha hissed at them.

"Hey!" Scott said aloud as he held his hand out, palm facing Samantha. "Don't worry about it. We'll know if he's going to come in." He said in an assuring tone a voice.

"Oh, Really?" Samantha said sarcastically back. "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, we all know that the General favors his left side, right?" he asked the group.

Jak nodded in agreement.

Adam rolled his eyes.

"Well, we know that the hallways are notorious for echoing. So all I have to do is put my hand on the table and if he's coming, I'll be able to feel the reverberations off the table, thus announcing his arrival." Scott put his feet up on the table in triumph. "That man will never surprise me."

"Boo."

Scott jumped from his chair and moved to the other side of the room in an instant with both hands up, ready for a fight.

Adam, also surprised, turned around to see General Halsey and Zahr standing behind them. Zhar was smiling, holding back a laugh. The General just had a stern look on his face. Samantha whispered to Adam. "Did you hear the door open?"

It was then that Adam did in fact not hear a door open. How did they get in here? He thought to himself. Not many could sneak up and surprise a Spartan super solider and walk away with their bodies intact.

Samantha spoke first. "Sir, permission to call E790 a dumbass?"

"Granted."

Samantha walked over to Scott and patted him on the shoulder. "Nice theory dumbass. "

"No fair." Scott said defensively.

The General sighed. "Well, if we're done fooling around, would anyone care to get started with today's briefing."

Everyone stood at attention. "Yes Sir!"

The general powered on the display. "This is Planet Jacinto, fourth planet closest to Alronta's sun. A few weeks ago, we acquired Intel that an old Covenant warship Bearer of Sorrow entered the system and set up a base on the planet's surface."

A hologram of the ship appeared above the table.

"We've identified the crew as mostly Jiralhanae, with one San 'Shyuum acting as their leader."

Everyone purked up as the word "San 'Shyuum". After the Great War, most of the San 'Shyuum went into hiding due to fear of Sangheili retaliation. Since it was them who lead an alien collective on a genocidal war against the human race, it was a real treat to hunt them down.

"Scans of the planet show that the ship as of now is currently empty."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jak threw up both hands, interrupting the general. "You're telling me that an old Covenant war machine is just sitting, completely empty, in geosynchronous orbit around a dead planet?"

"Actually, Corporal…" The General started. "Judging from the impact site, it would appear that the ship actually crashed a long time ago." The General emphasized the word impact.

Jak seemed to rethink his statement. "Impact site…Right."

"Are you done?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good." The general cleared his throat and started again. "Intelligence has also identified ancient Forerunner ruins about 3 clicks from the crash site."

A hologram of the entrance to the ruins appeared above the table.

"This is your mission, Gold Team: Enter the ruins and find out what happened to the crew of that ship. Also, investigate the ruins and gather as much data as you can. The NIA has an investigation team on its way, so we need to find out as much as we can before we get redeployed. Understood?"

Everyone responded at once. "Yes Sir!"

"Then get to it."

The ride down to the ruins was relatively uneventful. It was only tense when Gold team neared the entrance of the ruins. On a strange planet, entering an unfamiliar structure with no idea about the number of enemy troop's or their location was enough to put even carefree Zhar on edge.

"Gold four, you and me are on point. Zhar, you're in middle. Gold two and three, cover our six. I don't want anything taking us by surprise." Adam said to his team as the surrounded the entrance to the ruins. Everyone nodded in understanding.

Adam looked down to his MA5B assault rifles ammo readout. It read 32, a full clip. Adam took a deep breath, held it, and then exhaled. He shouldered his gun.

"Go." He said to Jak and ran in.

Adam swept the area with his vision, looking for anything willing to put up a fight. He scanned the whole room.

Empty.

"Move in." HE said over his comm. He moved to the door at the other end of the room. Everyone stacked up again.

"Go."

Adam opened the door and Jak walked in, aiming down his shotgun sights. The room turned out to be a stairwell. At the bottom, Adam stood near the door controls as Jak and Zhar stood in front.

Adam opened the door.

In a matter of minutes, the final room in the ruin was cleared. Jak took off his helmet and scratched his head.

"Ok this isn't weird or anything." Jak said to Scott as he walked around.

"Yea." Scott said back. "What was this place used for?"

"More importantly," Samantha chimed in. "Where are the brutes?"

Adam gave more commands to his team. "Jak, Scott, go check the last few rooms again. Try to find something we might have over looked."

"Yes sir." They both said at the same time and exited the room. Adam turned to Samantha next.

"Try to get in contact with the General. Tell him about the situation and inform him we're beginning our investigation of the ruins."

"Yes Sir!" Samantha shouted and activated her comm. "General Halsey, this is Gold two. Be advised, the ruins are clear and we are beginning our investigation, over."

Adam turned and saw Zhar looking diligently at a spot on the wall. HE walked over to his alien counterpart.

"Got anything interesting?" HE asked.

"Yea." The elite replied before pointing at the wall. "Look at this."

Adam looked closely at the wall, which has what looked like hieroglyphics all over. "What am I looking at?"

"This is ancient Forerunner symbols. Like their alphabet. But something is wrong."

"What's wrong?"

"Its orientation is off." His friend replied.

Adam looked closer at the symbols, half expecting them to magically translate into proper language. "Can you translate?"

"It's been a while since I've brushed up on Forerunner runes, but…" Zhar trailed off, staring intently at the symbols. HE touched one of the symbols. "I'm fairly certain that this one means "Heaven"."

Adam nodded in approval. "Anything else?"

"Yea, give me a sec…" Zhar's eyes scanned the wall, every now and then translating a symbol.

"Sun, moon, eternal, crush, Faith, heaven again, tears, warrior, demon, and creation."

Adam looked at the Elite. "It that all it says?"

"No, you dumbass, I'm just translating individual words! I got no idea what it says!" Zhar snapped back.

Adam sighed. "Well we'll let the Intel team see what they can make out." He said as he took pictures of the symbols. Just then Jak and Scott reentered the room.

"We did another sweep, but I think what we see now is all we got." Scott said to his CO. Adam nodded in approval.

"Alright good enough. Everyone topside now. Gold two, call in for evac. We'll secure the area and let the Intel team do its job." Adam said as he started to walk towards the exit.

Just as he was walking away, Jak turned his head and saw a symbol on the wall begin to glow. Instinctively, he would have told either Scott or his CO that something was off, but something about the symbol's glow seemed alluring. Without thinking, he reached up and placed his hand on the glowing symbol.

Samantha turned to see Jak. "What are you doing you jacka…"

The instant he touched the symbol, the entire room lit up in an eerie, light blue glow. They the party turned to Jak who just stood there.

"I didn't do it!" HE said.

"What did you do this time you dimwitted, senseless, pathetic e excuse for a soldier?" Samantha screamed at Jak.

"Hey lay off my brother!" Scott shouted back in argument.

"Shut up!" Samantha shouted before turning back to scream at Jak some more.

"Everyone CAN IT!" Adam shouted and everyone became quite instantly. Adam was about to say something else when an invisible shock wave knocked everyone to the ground.

Adam then heard what sounded like an explosion go off as he turned around in time to see a large, sphere like substance appear in the middle of the room. Adam then felt a pulling sensation pulling him toward the sphere. He clawed at the ground to find something to keep him from being sucked in.

Samantha saw him and grabbed his hand before he got out of reach. Adam then turned to grab Zhar before he was sucked in. HE reached out with his hand. Zhar to reached out to take it, but he was just an inch too far away as he was pulled into the sphere.

"Dammit! NO! Zhar!" Adam heard himself call out.

"God Dammmmmmitttttt!" He heard Zhar yell out before he disappeared from view.

Adam held on tighter as he felt some invisible force pull on him harder. Samantha too pulled harder against the force. Adam then heard a soft, faint voice go through his head.

_Two tears will roll off heavens cheek._

Then he looked at Samantha as she strained her muscles to keep hold of him. Then, in an instant, all of her strength gave out, and Adam was pulled into the sphere.

The last thing he saw was Samantha outstretching her hand towards him.

Then nothing.

The sphere then shank in size then disappeared altogether. The room then seemed to power down as the three Spartans sat there recollecting what just happened.

"What the hell was that?" Jak yelled out at last.

"Where did they…." Scott started before Samantha cut him off.

"Gold one do you copy, over? I repeat, Gold 1 what is your status, over?"

Samantha waited but didn't hear anything back.

"General Halsey, come in. This is Gold two. Gold 1 and Officer Zehiomie are MIA. I repeat, Gold 1 and Officer Zehiomie are MIA. We need reinforcements now, over!"

Samantha cursed to herself and exited the room.

Jak gave a low whistle and pressed his hands on the sides of his head. "Great, I just killed the lieutenant and an Elite Officer. Perfect."

Scott walked past Jak. "Yea. You really F'ed up this time."

Jak then stood there in the room alone. He took a look back into to the room before swearing to himself and ran out.

Time unknown

Location unknown

It was night time in the town. Then sun had just gone down, and most of the citizens where asleep. Only one person (or should I say pony) was still awake.

Her name was Luna. Her main was night sky black with dark purple hair. She was in charge of rising and lowering the moon at the end of every day, thus ushering in night. Usually she would do her royal duty then go to sleep, but tonight she couldn't help but stay awake and stare into the night sky.

In fact, she hadn't been able to sleep in days. With the memory of the past month still in her mind, she was growing suspicious that she might not sleep anytime soon.

The past month. Only a month had passed since the strange creatures appeared, promising peace then attacking , forcing her and her sister to flee to Ponyville. The fact that countless pony's were either killed or capture to ensure their escape. Perhaps it was the sacrifices that burdened her mind. She would never want anypony to sacrifice their life for her. What kind of pony could live with that guilt? A tear formed and slid down her face.

"Luna, are you still up?"

Luna bolted up and whipped the tear from her face then turned to see her sister, Princess Celestia, standing at the door, looking puzzled at her.

"Oh sister! Oh no I'm fine. Just couldn't sleep was all." She said in a gentle voice.

Celestia smiled. "I see." She said with a chuckle then sat down next to Luna. Luna sat down as well. They sat there awhile, silent, until Celestia spoke up again. "You did a good job raising the moon tonight."

"Thank you. I aim to please." Luna said with a smile. The two then sat there a while longer. Again silent.

Celstia spoke up again. "What's troubling you? Please tell me."

Luna sighed out load. Realizing her sister would leave it alone, she confessed. "Oh sister, what am I not troubled about. First that liar tricked us and attacked us in our own home, then everypony is sacrificing their lives to make sure we survive! I just can't take it!" A small tear dropped to the ground. Not Luna's, but her sisters.

Luna, unable to contain herself any longer, put her face into her sisters shoulder and began to sob. After a few minutes, Luna pulled herself together. "Sister, what are we going to do?"

Celestia whipped the tear of her face and looked back to the sky. "The only thing we can do. Be strong."

"But What about everypony who was captured? Your student! We have to do something!"

"I know we do, but charging recklessly into the arms of our enemy won't do anypony any good. We just have to stay put and wait for now."

Luna looked away from her sister, mortified. How could she say such things?

Celestia, seeming to read her sisters mind, spoke again. "I now it isn't right to just sit here and do nothing, but we're no match for him. I care for my student and everypony equally, but If we just go in and challenge him and be defeated, then all their sacrifices will be for nothing."

Luna kept looking away, not convinced.

"I promise you, as the ruler of Equestria, I will find a way to defeat that liar and bring peace beak to my kingdom!"

It was silent again for a while, until Celestia spoke up again. "A shooting star. How nice of you, sister!"

Luna looked up confused. There, in the sky, a flickering light was streaking across the sky. Sure she had the ability to make stars fly across the night sky, but that wasn't why she was confused.

She was confused because she didn't make it.

"I'm not doing that." Luna spoke up as the light became brighter.

"Really?" Celestia asked.

The two then sat there as the light became brighter and brighter until it could be clearly seen that there wasn't just one shooting star, but two.

"There's two of them." Luna said as the lights got even brighter.

"That's because they're not stars, their meteors!" Celestia replied back. The Two balls of fire stated to grow even larger and larger as they fell to the earth.

"Their coming this way!" Luna announced. Celestia had to act fast. If those meteors were to impact anywhere in the town, the damage would be catastrophic. Using her magic, she summoned a shield around the town. Seconds before impact, the balls of fire, as though guided by some unforeseen force seemed to jerk up, sailing above the town with a roaring boom before impacting somewhere deep inside the Everfree forest.

Confused, both Celestia and Luna got up a walking through the town toward the impact sight.

Luna spoke to her sister. "What in your name was that?"

Location: Small cottage at edge of Everfree forest

Time: Night time (Lol)

Well, I guess I lied when I said that only one pony was still awake. In a small cottage at the outskirts of town, a small, yellow pony by the name of Fluttershy was busy attending to the needs of her animal dependents.

"There you go Mr. Hedgehog." She said as he slid a small sack toward the hedgehog. "Take one of those every day before meals for two weeks and you should be better in not time."

The hedgehog smiled, took the sack, and scurried away. Fluttershy spread her wings and flew over to her couch. She was exhausted. She had been up all day caring for her animals. Usually they didn't need so much attention, but ever since the tragedy in Canterlot and her friends being captured by violent, bloodthirsty creatures, evrypony was put on edge.

Not that she minded the extra work. She believed that every single minute she put into caring for her animals was a minute well spent. She started to drift off to sleep until a small rabbit walked up to her and started swatting her with its ears.

"Oh, Angel Bunny, what's wrong?" She asked the small creature.

Annoyed, the rabbit opened his mouth and pointed into it, then he rubbed his stomach.

It took a second to relise her mistake. "Oh my! I'm so sorry Angel Bunny! I was so busy that I forgot to feed you!"

The Rabbit face palmed then looked back at Fluttershy with an Oh You Think? look on its face.

After making sure that her small rabbit had enough to eat, she retreated up to her bedroom, layer her head down on the pillow, and drifted to sleep.

BOOM!

Fluttershy bolted upright and rushed to her window. She whipped her eyes then looked at the forest. She say two columns of smoke rising not too far in. She then heard a ruckus downstairs as she rushed down at calm her startled animals.

"It's ok! Everything's ok! Please everyone calm down! Oh dear!"

After a while, Fluttershy finally restored order and went outside to investigate the forest.

Normally she wouldent dare step a single hoof into the Everfree forest. It was strange in that forest, as it worked differently than the rest of Equestria.

"Oh, What if these a forest fire?" Fluttershy was stressing to herself. She then got brave. "No, an animal might be hurt! I need to help!"

Not convincing herself, she squeaked meekly aloud and tried to reenter her house, only to find her rabbit had locked the door.

"Your right, Angel Bunny! Fluttershy needs to bebrave right now." Then she charged into the forest.

It didn't take long for her to move through the forest, her being a Pegasus and all.

"Hello?" She called out. "Is anyone hurt? Hello?"

Not long after, she was at ground zero of one of the impact sites. She hid from behind a bush as she strained to see what was in the crater.

"Hello? Is anypony there?" She said aloud. When she didn't hear a response, she moved from behind the bush and investigated.

(Gasp)

There, in the crater, laid a creature that Fluttershy had never seen before. Well, actually, she had seen something like it before. It looked like a human, but much bigger than any she had ever read about. Curiosity overrode her fear, and she crept quietly up to the unconscious human.

And poked it.

The human let out a grown, and Fluttershy was sent reeling back behind the bush. Hearing another grown, she looked out behind the bush to see the human slowly getting up. The human stood up on its hind legs and clutched his head. The human took two steps forward before it grabbed its side and let out a cry of agony before it dropped to his knees.

The human tried to force itself to stand back up, but failed and fell down on all fours. It again tried to stand back up, but again failed.

"God dammit…" She heard the human say before falling face first into the grass.

She came out of the bush again and walked over to the human and checked it. From the way it grabbed his side, she had to assume that something was broken. She rolled the human onto its back and felt along its chest. At one point she apparently found the afflicted area, which provoked another grown from the human.

"Oh my, you need medical attention! I'll go get some more help!" She started to leave but then heard another grown from somewhere farther inside the forest.

She was scared, but she decided that if something else was injured, she had a moral responsibility to try to help in any way she could.

She had a feeling that her work was just beginning.

_And So Heaven Will Come And Give Birth to life_

_And Bare Two Daughters_

_One The Sun, The Other The Moon_

_And The Two Will Rule Eternal_

_But When The Sun And The Moon Are Crushed By Faith_

_Two Tears Will Roll From Heavens Cheek_

_Baring Two Gifts_

_One A Warrior, The Other A Demon_

_And With The Sun And Moon Behind Them_

_They Will Ascend to the Heavens_

_And Squeeze A Drop_

_From The Apple Of Creation_

**Well Helllllloooo there minions… Freerider2901 here. Now If you're one of my loyal Minions who just read this your probably wondering to yourself "What in the name of Bungie was that shit?" First, the second part of the story was inspired by My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. **

**Yea that's right. I watch My Little Pony. If you don't like it, then you can just go opt yourself.**

**Truth be told I've had this story in my head for a while now and I had to just get out of my head. I am still writing for my Halo Reborn, but I just had to take a break.**

**For my fellow bronys out there who are a little confused, the first part of the chapter is from my halo fanfic "Halo: Legends reborn." I advise reading them, just so your familiar with my OC's. **

**If your one of those readers who can't stand ponies, then just ignore this. Please don't flame.**

**Anyway, things belong to their respective owners and what-not.**

**Anyway I guess I have to keep this going, so please R&R and let me know what you think. Updates might be scarce, so don't get mad. **

**Peace out.**

**(OH MY GOD IT WORKED! IT ACTUALLY WORKED!1!HA!)  
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	2. Chapter 2: You see them too, right?

_Where the hell am I? _Adam thought as he walked through the fog surrounding him.

It felt like he had been walking for hours. Adam had to figure he was dreaming, even though he couldn't tell for sure. It just felt plain.

Like Purgatory.

Suddenly Adams senses alerted him to another presence near him. He turned around to see a ray of light shining on him from an unknown source.

Then he heard whispers, although Adam couldn't make any words out. I just sounded like gibberish.

"Hello? Is someone there?" Adam spoke up.

Instantly the whispering noises stopped. The light shining on Adam seemed to dim. Then Adam heard the voices again, this time speaking in clear English.

_And So Heaven Will Come And Give Birth to life_

_And Bare Two Daughters_ _One The Sun, The Other The Moon_

_And The Two Will Rule Eternal_

_But When The Sun And The Moon Are Crushed By Faith_

_Two Tears Will Roll From Heavens Cheek_

_Baring Two Gifts_

_One A Warrior, The Other A Demon_

_And With The Sun And Moon Behind Them_

_They Will Ascend to the Heavens_

_And Squeeze A Drop_

_From The Apple Of Creation_

The voice then went away. The light was still there, but slowly began to grow brighter and bright.

"What?" Adam shielded his eyes from the harsh light. "I don't understand, what does that mean?"

The voice did not answer back. Adam then looked back into the light again and saw a dark, shadow like figure inside.

"Hello? Who are you?"

The figure did not answer, but just spread what looked to be like giant wings, and Adam was soon surrounded by the light.

Adam then felt the sensation of falling.

He then heard the voice again.

_Please. Help them._

**Update time!**

Chapter 2: You see them too, right?

Location: Unknown

Time: Unknown

_Oh, you're Majesty! What are you doing here?_

_I came to check on him. How is he?_

_Well, milady, it hasn't regained conciseness yet, so we don't really know._

_He._

_Pardon, milady?_

_It's a male._

_Oh, I see. A Thousand pardons for the mistake, milady. _

_It's fine. Does he have any injuries? _

_Well, we don't really know much about his physiology. From what we read from Ms. Sparkles' notes we guessed that he had about 3 broken ribs on his left side. He also had some internal bleeding, but we we're able to stop it._

_Good work doctor. And the other?_

_Well, we're not really sure. I'm not sure anypony has ever seen anything like it!_

_I see._

_What do you think it is, sister?_

_I'm not exactly sure. It definitely isn't anything like them, but I'm just not sure._

_Should we lock it up?_

_No. Until it wakes up, I think we should continue to care for it. Same for the human._

_He seems rather rough build for a human. _

_Indeed._

_Who the hell is talking? _Adam thought to himself as he lay on the hospital bed. He opened his eyes and found himself all alone in a hospital starring at the ceiling. He leaned up and took a deep breath and was greeted by a sharp pain from his left side.

Using his hand, he felt along the left side of his chest. He took several deep breaths.

_One. Two. Three. Dammit. _Adam thought as he inched his hand around his side. Three broken ribs.

He looked down to his legs, surprised to find himself wearing pitch black combat cargo pants and all-purpose combat boots. He looked to his chest to find himself wearing a tight, black short-sleeved shirt.

_Where the hell is my armor? _He thought to himself as he ripped the IV out of his arm and stood upright. As he stood upright, he got an overwhelming sense of dizziness as he nearly slumped over. He then noticed a small bit of blood coming from under his shirt. He lifted it up to find a set of stitches running down his left side of his chest.

_Who operated on me? _ He thought as he found some gauze and stopped the bleeding. He then walked over to the window to find in shock that he wasn't on a ship. He looked up to see a clear, blue sky.

_Where in the hell am I? _He thought to himself as he continued to examine his surroundings.

_Ok, this is what happened… _He started to think to himself. _You got hit on the head during the mission, or you fell out of the pelican, whatever. Anyway, Samantha did her best to treat you but your injuries were so severe that you were in a coma, and the General had to get you to a USSC medical outpost in the far reaches of space and you just woke up._

_Yea that's it. _He thought, satisfied with the conclusion he was able to draw for himself.

He heard a door open, and turned around to see several, 4 legged creatures in the room, staring wide eyed at him.

_Or not. _He thought to himself.

Nothing in the room was moving. They all just stood there, waiting for someone to move. Adam counted all the creatures. There were nine of them. One of them was stark white, with a lightest mane with different colors. Adam was able to make out a red and green. He also took note of the symbol of a sun on its right flank. For some reason, it had a long horn sticking out of its head. It also had a pair of wings on its side, though they were both tucked close to its body. It was the largest of the nine of them, and Adam guessed it was some type of authority figure.

Adam then looked to the creature next to the white one. It had a horn and wings as well, but it was significantly smaller than the other one, key differences being that its hair was deep purple, as well as its mane.

He took notes of the others as well. The three others creatures near the two all wore gold, regal armor, which seemed to bring out their size. Adam reasoned that these were some type of soldiers. He noticed that they had wings as well, but had no horn on their heads.

He looked to the far left and small 4 more creatures behind the first five and noticed them to be considerably smaller than the others. Two of them had wings, one had a horn, one the last one had neither of the two. He noticed that each of them had a symbol on their right flanks, each one different.

_What in the hell? _Adam thought as he took two steps to the right, trying to get a look behind the group. They looked like horses, mostly the large one, but the others were too small to be horses. More like…

Ponies.

A lightish blue pony in the back moved, trying desperately to get a better view of Adam. Giving up, it spread its wings and slowly floated up into the air. It had rainbow colored hair and a symbol of a lightning bolt(again rainbow colored) on its flank. It seemed to look at him with a mix of curiosity and astonishment.

Adam was dumbfounded. How could those wings possibly support all that weight?

The rainbow haired pony, noticing Adam staring at it, smiled in a nervous manner and brought its foreleg up and waved.

Adam took a mental and physical step back.

_Did that flying pony just smile and wave at you?_

Adam, without thinking, held up his hand as well and returned the wave. The pony then lowered itself to the ground, apparently done with its observation.

Another minute passed without activity until the purple one did something that took Adam completely off guard.

The purple pony took half a step forward and spoke.

_Spoke._

"Um, hello?" it said. Adam Took another hasty step back. There was only one question that flashed in his mind.

_Did that pony just TALK to you?_

The purple pony, seeing the reaction and not hearing a response, spoke to Adam again.

"Hello? Can you understand me?"

Adam nodded his head slowly, remaining silent. This seemed to put the three winged solider ponies on edge.

The large white pony then took a full step forward toward Adam, seeming to protect the purple one. This put Adam on edge. He took two more steps to his right, standing directly in front of the window. Finally he spoke up.

"You can talk? How?" he said as he pointed to the purple one.

This time it was the white one who replied. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't she?" She looked confused.

"Because you're all horses." Adam said matter-oh-factly as he raised his fists to chest level, now more on edge than before.

The same rainbow haired pony stepped forward again. "So What, You got a thing against ponies who can talk?"

Adam shot the winged pony a deadly look. The pony, not backing down, began to dart her eyes nervously around the room, not looking at Adam.

Adam tensed up more as he saw the three winged guards begin to take a tight, triangle formation in front of the two leader ponies. Adam took a fighting stance, ready to act.

No one in the room moved or spoke.

_Get ready. _His instincts told him.

During the confrontation, a small piece a dust came off out of the air and landed on the nose of a small, pink colored pony. She seemed ignorant of the events that where going around her. She wiggled her nose to try to shake the dust particle off. Eventually the sensation grew drastically, and her light-yellow friend was too late to stop her.

Ahhhh-ChOOOOOOOOOO!

Adam saw the middle pony jump up first, followed by the other two. Adam allowed the middle one to get closer to him.

_Closer…Closer… _He thought as he watched the closest pony getting closer.

The pony was now nearly 3 feet from him now. He looked straight into the guard's eyes. He could see the undying loyalty in its eyes. The willingness to die for their leader. Somewhere, a part of him respected these strange creatures.

_NOW! _Adams mind flared as he sidestepped left of the speeding pony.

The pony, unable to change direction, smashed through the window Adam had strategically placed behind himself.

The other two were able to stop just barley from following their leader. They looked out to see their companion lying on the ground surrounded by shards of broken glass.

"Sir!" One of them shouted out. The guard groaned and lay on the ground hurt, but alive. The remaining two then took a 3-foot spread formation in front of the Spartan.

The one on the left cleared his throat and nudged his head to the left. The other one nodded and prepared to strike.

Adam raised his fists and grinned. He was hoping for this. Underestimating your enemy just because of you had a numeral advantage. One would rush at him upfront, distracting him, while the other one hit him from behind. A good take down tactic for dealing with a superior enemy.

_Too bad it won't work. _Adam thought to himself.

The purple pony stepped forward. "Guards no! Please Stop!" She screamed desperately.

The two guards then moved together, one moving toward Adam head first, while the other tried to move behind Adam.

Adam jumped straight forward as well, outstretching his arm, and grabbed the pony's neck. Then he pulled back and threw the pony clear across the room, knocking over a wheeled stretcher. Adam turned around just in time to dodge the second pony's punch.

The pony started throwing its forelegs strait at Adam in a wild fashion. Despite its speed, Adam was able to block and dodge with ease. Then the pony overthrew a punch and Adam, seeing his opening, sidestepped 90 degrees to where he was parallel to the pony's foreleg.

Adam grabbed near the end of its forearm and twisted.

_Crack!_

Adam felt a little resistance as he twisted. Adam figured it was broken from the guards' reaction. He then spun around; his hand still wrapped around its leg, brought it forward, and drove his elbow into the middle of the pony's foreleg.

_Crack!_

This provoked a more agenizing cry of pain from the guard. Using his momentum, Adam spun and threw the pony right into its comrade across the room, still trying to stand up right.

The two crashed into each other and then laid on the floor in a tangled mess. Adam smirked, felling the battle was over.

"HEY!" a voice came from behind him. He wheeled around to find the rainbow haired pony flying head first, both forelegs outstretched and closing in fast.

Very, very fast.

So fast that Adam wouldn't have even noticed her if she hadn't announced her presence.

But Adam was still faster.

Acting fast, he turned his body parallel to the pony and allowed it to get just inside his reach. The pony looked surprised. Adam smirked. He knew what she was thinking. That a strange creature had just used her only advantage against her.

Adam wrapped his arm around the pony's neck, causing her head to stop but for her body to continue moving. Using his free arm, he wrapped it around her midsection, and then pressed her against his chest.

"Let…me…GO!" The pony started shouting as it started to flail violently with her legs. Using her hind legs, she successfully delivered several painful blows to Adams unprotected crotch. Adam took the pain in stride, and tightened his grip around the pony's neck, causing her to gasp for breath.

Adam wasn't trying to hurt it, just trying to get it to calm down.

"Hey, let go of Rainbow Dash!" Adam heard from behind him. HE turned his head to see a small, pink pony right behind him. Adam was stunned.

_Where the hell did that one come from? _ He thought as he recalled seeing the same one not too long ago on the other side of the room.

The pony wrapped its forelegs around Adams leg before he could dart away and sunk its teeth into his leg.

"OW!" Adam shouted as the pink pony continued to chew on his leg like a mangy dog. The sudden pain had caused him to unknowing loosen his wrap around the rainbow colored pony neck.

The pony drew back its left hind leg and bucked strait into Adams groin.

_Son Of A… _Adam thought as he felt the pain shoot through his body. He tightened his arm around the pony's neck, and then shifted his attention to the pink one.

"Get off!" Adam shouted as he drew back his leg and threw the pony off.

"WEEEEEE!" The pony cheered as it sailed through the air, almost like it just forgot what she was doing.

"Sick 'em Gummy!" the pony shouted before she smacked into the wall.

_What? _Adam thought as he saw a green mass in his peripheral vision. He turned his head slightly to see a small baby alligator flying strait toward him. Adam moved his head out of the alligator's trajectory. The alligator sank its jaws into Adams shoulder. Adam braced for the worst, but the worst never came.

Confused, he looked to his shoulder to see that the alligator that was biting Adam had no teeth. Adam jerked his shoulder and the alligator flew off, landing on its back on the floor.

Adam, with his makeshift hostage, turned to face the ponies in the room. A minute passed without event. Adam then noticed the two guards near the knocked over stretcher starting to get back to their feet. Adam then saw the third guard from earlier flying back in through the broken window. It saw him and took a battle stance.

All of the sudden an extreme felling of dizziness and nausea wash over him. Adam saw his vision begin to tunnel and he fought back to stay awake. The sudden fatigue caused him to loosen his grip on the pony, and it struggled out of his arms before giving him another kick to the crotch. Adam fell to one knee and clutched the left side of his chest. He looked up to the now free pony to see that it had a bloodstain on its left side.

Adam was sure that he didn't do that.

Adam took his hand off his side and looked at it. It was covered in blood.

His blood.

_Of course the damn stitches. _Adam cursed to himself for his carelessness. Of course he would be losing blood. All the activity had been enough to reopen the wound.

Adam tried to get up but couldn't. HE was barley struggling to keep himself from passing out.

The guards, seeing the Spartans condition, seemed to inspire confidence from the group. They stepped into a loose, triangle formation around him. Adam braced himself. No way was he just going to go down without a fight.

The three guards jumped up.

Adam braced.

Nothing hit him.

Adam opened his eyes to see the three guards, mere feet away, stopped. Suspended in midair.

The Spartan looked up to see the white pony's horn glowing. She looked over to the guards.

"That's enough sirs. Stand down." She said to them.

"But your majesty!" The leader began in argument.

The white pony shot the pony a stern look, much like General Halsey would to shut up an out of line subordinate.

The guard lowered his head. "Of course, your majesty." Then they seemed to lower to the ground. They moved back, but still within striking distance.

The white pony took a look at Adam. "Doctor, his wounds!"

"Yes your majesty!" The teal colored horned pony said as it started to move toward the weak Spartan.

"Stay Back!" Adam barked out. The pony jumped a little and backed up. HE winced in pain as the feeling of unconsciousness washed over him again. His eyesight began to tunnel again.

_Stay…Awake… _He mentally battled the feeling, pushing it back, but it was getting stronger as he lost more blood. Soon he wouldn't be able to resist it.

The white pony started to approach Adam, a look of concern on its face. Adam tensed up, trying to stand up. Pain shot through his body again. He cursed to himself.

The pony was now a mere 5 feet from Adam. If he could, he could easily strike out against it, but in his condition, he decided against it. The pony then spoke in a calm, whisper like tone.

"Look, I understand what you're feeling right now. You're in an unfamiliar environment surrounded by things you are not familiar with. Your Scared, angry, confused, and every fiber in you're being right now is telling you to fight back."

He pointed her horn towards his left side. "Your injured and losing a lot of blood. We want to try to help you, that's all. I promise you that no pony here wishes to harm you."

One of the guards coughed. The pony shot it a look. The guard lowered its head.

She turned back to Adam. "Please just trust me and let us help you." She spoke in a pleading voice.

Adam looked away, wincing from the pain. He cursed to himself. He knew she was right. HE wouldn't say he was scared, just tense. He clutched his side. HE was still losing blood. Pretty soon none of it would matter.

Reluctantly, he forced himself to speak.

"Fine." HE took several deep breaths before speaking again. "But I want them against that wall, where I can see them." He said as he pointed to the 3 guards.

The pony nodded. "Very well." She turned her head towards her guards. "Gentlecolts, over against the wall, please."

The guards started in protest. The white pony shot another look at them. Without complaint, the guards lined up against the wall, eyes trained on the Spartan.

The white mare then turned back to the doctor pony. "Doctor."

"Yes milady! Right away!"

The doctor, with the help of the rainbow haired pony, managed to place Adam back onto the hospital bed. The doctor's horn began to glow, and an IV needle floated into the air and inserted itself into his arm.

Adam then saw a small IV bag filled with a clear, violet liquid. He was a little reluctant to allow these creatures to treat him, but if he lost more blood, he would be done for.

As the doctor removed his shirt, Adam got a good look at the wound. He saw the stitches seem to move on their own as they came undone. Adam was just about to ask how she was doing that when the feeling the unconsciousness returned. This time the feeling was too much for him to push back.

Eventually he drifted off. The last thing he saw was the purple mare standing over him, watching him.

Celestia watched as the doctor began to treat the human.

"Oh my, this isn't good!" She heard the doctor begin to panic. "He's lost so much blood! I don't think the replication fluid will work fast enough!"

"Can we use transfused blood?" Luna asked the doctor.

"Well, we could but I have no idea how his system would react to it. I suppose we could give it a try." The doctor decided.

Then the heart-rate monitor started to beep loudly. "Doctor, his vitals are falling!"

"Nurse, get me a bag of type AB blood from storage!"

"Yes doctor!" The nurse replied and ran out.

The doctor then resumed the task of placing new stitches onto the humans wound. Slowly, the heartbeat monitor started to beep lowly as Adams heart rate return to normal.

"What the….?" The doctor asked aloud, dumbfounded.

"What's wrong?" The princess asked.

"I… Nothing your majesty. All vital signs are stabilizing. It looks like the replication fluid is working." The doctor replied.

"Will he be alright?" Luna asked.

"Yes he should. I'd like to keep him hooked up to the IV for a while longer though, just to be sure."

Luna nodded in agreement.

"Miss Dash, could you please help me lean him up?" The doctor asked the rainbow haired pony. With her help, the doctor managed to wrap the human's midsection with surgical bandages.

Celestia then turned around to examine the hospital room. The entire room was a wreck. She was amazed. She struggled to comprehend how a badly injured human was able to fight off 3 of her best royal guards and win.

She looked worryingly at the unconscious human. She had interacted with humans before, but none of them were anywhere up to par with this humans speed and strength.

_Just who is this human? _ She thought to herself as the nurse came back in with a small bag of blood in his mouth. Seeing that the situation was under control, the doctor escorted the injured guard to a table to treat his broken foreleg.

20 or so minutes passed before the human began to show signs of waking up. The two remaining guards took position before Celestia gave them very clear orders to not attack the human again. Eveypony in the room seemed to move back as the human sat up and groaned.

Celestia took a step forward. "How are you feeling? Better?"

The human rubbed his eyes before looking down to his legs. Finally it gave its answer.

"Better." He said before reaching toward the IV.

"Actually, I would like for you to keep lying down for a while." The doctor said to him. The Spartan ignored the pony as it swung its legs over the bed to stand upright.

The human took a wobbly step forward as it tried to regain its sense of balance. The doctor took a step forward and the human but his hand out.

"Really, I'm fine." It said as he refused the doctors help. The teal pony then backed away. Celestia took a step forward and addressed the Spartan. "Now, I understand if you might have a few questions."

The human looked up at her and chuckled. "Yea. Just a few. For instance,…" HE said before sitting back down onto the bed. He looked straight at Celestia.

"Where the hell am I?" It asked.

The rest of the afternoon had just been that. Adam fired questions on Celestia non-stop. Celestia did her best to keep up, doing her best to lessen the humans tension.

After a while, Adam decided to recap the information he had just received.

"Ok, let me get this straight. Right now I'm in the magical land of Equestria?"

"Yes."

"Which is populated by talking ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi?"

"That's correct."

"And you and your sister have ruled together for thousands of years?"

"Correct."

"And you have the ability to rise and lower the sun and you're sister can raise and lower the moon?"

"Yes…"

"And last night two meteors crashed near the town and when you investigated, you found me just lying there, injured, and then performed surgery on me?"

"Well we couldn't just leave you there."

Adam got up and moved to the window. He looked out to see ponies everywhere. Just walking around, shopping, and going about their daily lives. He put his hand on his face.

This all had to be a dream or sick joke. He looked down to his bandages. HE cursed to himself.

He knew this was real.

All of it.

He then looked up, suddenly remembering a detail he overlooked. He turned to the group.

"What did you find at the other impact sight?"

Celestia seemed to just look around, looking for the right words. Finally giving up, she spoke again.

"Perhaps it will be best if we just show you."

They lead him out of the hospital room and down a long hallway. As they went, Adam got a series of odd looks and nervous smiles.

_And you thought you got weird looks back home._

Eventually they reach a room with a two guards standing in front. Reluctantly, they both stepped out of the way of the group.

Upon entering, Adams eyes drifted toward the dark grey mass lying at the other end of the room.

After a second he recognized the mass. It was an Elite.

His Elite.

"Zhar?" Adam whispered to himself. He then walked over to the unconscious alien to find him hooked up to an IV as well.

He also noticed a chain fastened to its leg.

"Miss Fluttershy found it not far from where we found you. She did her best to treat it…" The doctor said, walking up to him.

Adam continued to examine the naked Elite. "I'm sorry, but who found him?"

The Doctor pointed her hoof to the other side. Adam turned to see a light yellow pegasus with a light pink mane standing in the corner. As he got a good look at her, she darted behind the rainbow haired pegasus.

"Um, ok then."

The doctor turned back to Adam. "We've been monitoring it all night, but we haven't seen any activity."

Adam leaned over the Elites head and opened its eye. "Can I get a pen-light or something?" he asked with his hand open.

"Oh, yes! Right away." The teal pony said as it picked up a light with its mouth and placed it in Adams open hand.

"Thanks." Adam said.

The doctor nodded.

Taking the light, Adam shined it into Zhars eye. Adam watched as his pupil dilated.

"We haven't been able to detect a heartbeat or pulse from it for hours. We… We think it might be dead." The Doctor told Adam.

Adam placed the light down and placed his hand on the elites chest. He then took two fingers and placed them at the base of its neck. Then he closed his eyes.

A minute passed without a word. Adam then opened his eyes and shook his head. "He's fine."

"I beg your pardon?" The Doctor asked.

Adam didn't turn to address the pony as he propped the alien upright. "When members of his race are either under extreme pain or stress, their heart rates and vitals begin to slow down and they go into a coma like hibernation. Basically like playing possum." Adam took a second to rethink his statement, wondering if they got the playing possum analogy. "He's only done this twice but both those times he was able to wake up easy."

He turned to see everyone in the room staring at him, confused.

"Observe." He said as he turned and smacked the alien right on the tip of its mussel.

The response from the Elite was immediate.

"OW GOD DAMMIT WHAT THE HELL?" It screamed as it held both of its hands to its face.

The ponies, surprised, took a collective jump back.

After a few seconds, the alien looked up to Adam.

"What the hell is wrong with you, you jackass? Ow, God that hurt!" The Elite was clutching its face, reeling from the pain. "God, can't a guy get some rest without you going around punching people?"

"Quit your crying. I didn't even hit you that hard." The Spartan told the whining elite.

"Yea but it still hurt, Jackass! God right on my nose, too!" The elite replied. After a few seconds, the elite looked back and examined its human partner. "Hey, where's your armor?"

The Elite then looked down at itself. "Why am I naked?" HE looked down towards his foot. "Why the hell am I chained up? Did we get arrested again?"

Adam rolled his eyes. Zhar then looked to his side to discover that there were stitches on his side. "Aw, crap, did a hooker roofie me and steal my last kidney? Damn, I was saving that one for a special occasion!"

"What? No one stole your kidney." Adam then turned to the doctor. "Right?"

The doctor shock it head with a no. "Good." Adam replied back.

Zhar leaned out from behind Adam and stared at the doctor for a second, then scanned the rest of the room, getting a good look at the rest of the ponies.

Zhar turned back to Adam. "What's with all the small horses? Am I tripping?"

Adam groaned before replying. "What do you think?"

Zhar waved his hand in front of his face a few times, and then started pinching his arms. "If I am, then this is the best damn stuff I've ever shot up!"

Adam face palmed. "You're not tripping, you idiot." Adam then thought for a second and spoke to Zhar again. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Zhar looked confused at Adam. "What is this, a pop quiz?"

"Just tell me the last thing you remember…" Adam replied with a sigh.

Zhar looked to the ceiling for a moment. "Ummmm… Last thing I remember was you pulling me out of the VIP room at that one strip joint… And if I remember correctly you owe me for that full session I missed out on because of you."

Adam rolled his eyes again before replying, unable to suppress the annoyance in his voice. "We were on a mission you dumbass! What the hell are you thinking; you could have giving our positions away!"

"Well there was a break in the action so I thought I would treat myself to some of the fine pleasures around me! You know, you could benefit from having some fun every now and then!" Zhar shot back.

"What? Let me get this straight; you're saying that it's fun to get a disgusting flesh eating virus from a prostitute that lives in a cardboard box in the clubs back ally. I'm sorry, but what part of that do you see fun?"

"Oh, come on. She said she was clean."

"She was a 40 year old with a hole in her neck."

"Erotic, right?"

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you not take our job seriously?"

"Oh well I'm so sorry I don't walk as straight as you do 'cause I don't have the pole up my ass!"

"Do you not realize we almost got court-martialed because of that? Why are we even talking about this? I asked you what was the last you remembered?"

"It's still fresh in my mind, man!"

"IT happened a year ago!"

"An elephant always remembers."

"..ELEPHANT."

"The principle still stands."

"What principle? That you have to regurgitate useless information just because it pisses me off?"

"Hehe. You said it, not me."

Celestia just watched with curiosity as the two creatures continued to bicker between themselves. Not sure what to do, she cleared her throat, hoping to quell the fighting.

The two, apparently not hearing her, continued to argue.

"Um, excuse me. Sirs?" She asked.

The two continued to argue.

"Pardon me!" She said loader than before.

Still the two ignored her.

"If I could just…" She was interrupted when Zhar lashed a weak kick into Adams gut. Adam, still cluching his gut, he looked up.

"You're dead…" HE hissed.

Zhar held his hand out and curled his fingers back and forth. "Come get some, human."

And the two went at it.

Adam moved first, jumping headfirst at Zhar. Zhar countered with another strong kick. Not wanting to take a full strength kick to the stomach, Adam stopped himself and jumped back before the kick connected.

Seeing his chance, Zhar sprung out of the bed straight at Adam. Before he could reach him, Zhar felt a toughing at his leg and fell straight on his face. He looked behind him to see his leg still chained to the wall.

Now seeing _his _chance Adam moved forward and raised his foot over the Elites head. As he was bringing it down, the elite rolled out of the way in time and using his strength ripped his foot free of the chain. Then he grabbed Adams boot and forced it up, then he knocked Adams other foot out from underneath him.

Adam landed on his back with a thud. He looked just in time to see Zhar right over him, a fist ready to knock him down. Acting fast, Adam moved his head from the path Zhars fist before it hit him. Zhar reeled back, his hand in thriving pain. Then, Adam struck Zhar in the midsection with his elbow, forcing the elite off. Adam then rolled over to where he was on top of Zhar. He clutched both of his hands together and raised them above his head, ready to end the fight.

As Adam brought his fists down, Zhar caught them both, just inches away from his face. Then Zhar put his foot to Adams chest. Then with a push, the Spartan was sent flying towards the wall.

_Crash!_

_Ow. _Adam thought as he crashed into the medical supply cabinets behind him. Quickly, Adam stood up to his feet. He then saw that during his recovery, Zhar had now managed to get back on his feet as well.

The two then stared into each other for a moment. Zhar's mandibles flexed in a smile. Adam smiled as well. The two then stood back up straight and walked towards each other, casually. Zhar laughed and Adam chuckled. When they were in arm reach of each other, they clutched each other's hands and shook.

Luna was dumbfounded by what she had just seen. Those two creatures, despite their condition, had just fought each other violently. Then in the middle of their fight, the two just stopped, laughed, and then embraced each other like nothing had happened.

She looked at her sister and whispered. "What just happened?"

"I'm not exactly sure…" She said without looking at her. She stepped forward and spoke. "Um, excuse me, are you two finished?"

This time, the two turned around.

Adam replied first. "Oh, yea right. Sorry about that."

"Yea." Zhar said next. "Just working out some issues."

"By wrecking a hospital room?" The rainbow haired asked out loud.

Zhar looked around. "Is that where I am?"

Adam turned to Zhar. "Yes Zhar, that's where we are."

Celestia cleared her throat and spoke again. "Well, if you've worked you're…issues… perhaps we could get introductions out of the way."

Adam and Zhar nodded together, and then turned to face the white Alicorn.

The next hour or so was spent talking. Celestia had gone around the room, introducing each of the ponies by name. Every now and then she caught the two sharing a glance. She was in the middle of a lecture about the wonders of the world when her sister interrupted.

"I'm sorry, but please excuse my older sister. She has a tendency to, um… drift off topic." Celestia looked at her sister, then blushed, realizing her rambling. She smiled nervously.

Adam and Zhar exchanged a quick glance before Adam responded.

"Its fine. Actually, I was wondering something…" he said as he looked at the doctor. "How is it you where able to make things levitate? Some type of telekinesis?"

Celestia looked up at the human confused. "I beg your pardon?"

Adam rethought his question. "Before when I was fighting your guards, you stopped them from attacking me by stopping them in mid-air. Your horn was glowing. How did you do that?"

Celestia replied. "Oh, right. No, it wasn't telekinesis. In our world, some ponies are born with horns on their heads, allowing them to use magic. We can use magic to do all sorts of things."

She looked to an apple lying on the floor. She concentrated on the apple as her horn began to glow. Then the apple lifted off the ground and started to float toward Adam. Adam plucked the apple out of the air when it was within his reach. Celestia smiled and continued. "Magic isn't just limited to making objects levitate. We can use it to create fire, purify water, control the weather, and even teleport."

"Or perform surgery…" Adam finished as he placed the apple on the table beside him.

"Exactly." She replied.

Adam flexed his hand and Zhar stood up. Together, they moved to the other side of the room. "If you'll excuse us." Adam said as an after-thought.

"Oh, yes! Of course." Celestia replied.

Over in the corner, Adam and Zhar talked in a whisper to keep their conversation private.

"I'm going to assume for a moment that I haven't completely lost it and you can see the talking ponies too." Zhar said as Adam got closer.

"Well let's not rule anything out just yet…" Adam replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you make of all this?"

Zhar scratched one of his mandibles. "Well, it's not every day you wake up in a hospital surrounded by magical, talking ponies but right now everything seems to be going well." He replied.

"Yea…" Adam said. "Right…"

As they were talking another guard entered the room and whispered something into the princess's ear.

"Are you sure, Captain?" She asked the guard.

"Yes, your majesty. It's not like anything any of us has ever seen."

Celestia sighed before replying. "Well bring it here then. They might know what it is."

"Yes, your majesty!" The guard said and made a motion to the two outside the door.

Celestia turned to the two. "Excuse me, sirs. There's something we would like to show you two."

The two turned around and walked back to the group and watched as two winged guard flew in, careing what looked like a navel standard issue duffel bag.

"We found this not far from the impact sights." The captain said as Adam knelt to examine it.

Adam pulled back the zipper and took a good look at the contents.

"What is it?" Zhar asked as he stood over Adam.

"Looks like supplies." HE said as he pulled out a tarp. "One medium size tarp." HE said as he laid it on the ground nearby.

"Anything else?" Zhar asked.

"Yup." Adam replied as he continued to pull out items from the duffel.

"Two backpacks. One face mask. One pair of night vision goggles. One lighter. One 10 inch combat knife. One Plasma Pistol. One unloaded M6S standard issue sidearm…" Adam grinned as he saw the next item.

"One M45 TS combat shotgun." Adam pulled back the pump to see the inside of the chamber. His grin disappeared.

"One _unloaded _M45 TS combat shotgun." He said, unable to contain the distain in his voice.

"That all?" Zhar asked.

"No." Adam replied. "5 glow sticks, 5 flares, and…" Adam paused as he rolled his eyes. "One gentleman's interest magazine…" He announced as he help up the magazine.

Zhar perked up. "That must be for me." He said as he plucked the magazine out of Adams hand. He then walked away as he opened it up. The small pink earth pony (Pinkie Pie or something?) strained her neck to see the contents of the pages. "Mr, why are these ladies not wearing clothes like you?"

Adam, flustered, rushed up and ripped the magazine out of Zhars hand, then, using the lighter, set the magazine on fire and threw it out the window.

"Hey!" Zhar protested. "I was gonna really enjoy that later!"

"Shut up." Adam replied harshly. He walked back over to the duffel bag and checked inside. There were only two items left. One looked like a TACPAD, but the other he didn't recognize. He picked it up and inspected it in his hand. "What do we have here?" Adam said quietly to himself.

Zhar looked over from the window and spied the object in Adams hand. "What's that?" He asked his Spartan companion.

"Looks like an energy sword, but it's different from any I've ever seen." HE said as he handed it to Zhar.

Zhar took the small bar and held it in his hand. After backing away from the group, he activated it. Two red arcs of energy came out, forming a double edged blade. The ponies where in awe as Zhar swung it slowly in the air around him.

"Interesting…" Zhar said as he inspected the blade.

"What is that? I thought energy swords where blue?" Adam asked as he stood up.

"This is a special-ops blade. It's about 20% hotter than a regular energy sword. Can cut through 5 inch thick bulkhead bar like butter. " Zhar replied.

"Now that's a blade…" Rainbow Dash said quietly as she stared at the blade.

"Yea…" Zhar said as he deactivated the weapon. He looked in Adams hand. "That a TACPAD?"

Adam looked down, forgetting that it was in his hand. "Oh, yea, right. It is."

"Does it work?" The Alien asked.

"I don't see why not." Adam said as he powered it on. He didn't expect it to work. It was probably out of range for it to be any good.

The TACPAD powered on and Adam was surprised to find that he in fact had full comm signal strength. He checked the available channels to find that Gold 2 was broadcasting. Quickly he pulled off the detachable earpiece and tuned into the channel.

"Gold 2, Gold 2 come in. This is Gold one broadcasting on a secure channel. If you are hearing, respond immediately, over." Adam waited a few second but didn't hear anything back. He checked his signal. He was broadcasting and his messages were going through.

He decided to switch channels. "This is Lieutenant E229 broadcasting on all open channels. If there are any USSC forces that can hear this transmission, respond immediately."

After a few seconds, he repeated his message. "I repeat, this is Lieutenant E229 broadcasting on all open channels. If there are any USSC forces that can hear this transmission, respond immediately, over."

"Why's that one guy talking to himself?" Pinkie Pie asked Fluttershy, who was still hiding behind Rainbow Dash. When she didn't get an answer, she lifted her hoof and twilled it around the side of her head. "Weirdo…" She cheered quietly to herself.

When he overheard the comment about his friend's sanity the pink pony had made, Zhar smirked to himself. _That one I like. _

"Does anyone copy, over?" Adam continued into his earpiece.

"Dammit!" HE cursed out load as he pulled the earpiece out.

Zhar turned. "Static?"

Adam sighed as he powered the TACPAD off. "I'm getting a signal and I can broadcast, but it's just going straight to voice mail."

"Crap…" Zhar sighed as he began to place the items back into the duffel bag.

During all the talking, another guard entered the room and whispered something into Celestia's ear. She nodded and then whispered something into Luna's ear. She then addressed the elite and Spartan.

"I'm really must apologize, but I'm afraid there are thing's me and my sister must attend to. We must depart immediately."

"Wait!" Adam started. "What about us?"

"Well you're free to stay here at the hospital for as long as you…"

"Actually, princess, could I talk to you about that?" The Doctor asked.

The two went to the side of the room. "Milady, I feel a little horrible to say this but these two are extremely violent. You saw the damage they were able to do. I just don't feel comfortable letting them stay here."

"It's fine." Adam replied as he walked toward the two. "I would actually prefer to get out of here."

"But where would you stay?" Luna walked up and asked.

Adam and Zhar exchanged a glance. _Where would we stay? _They were in a strange place, in a strange world, surrounded by strange creatures. That really didn't leave many options.

"We'll just camp out." Zhar walked up and declared. "We wouldn't want to impose."

"What? No, I couldn't live with myself if I laid my head on my pillow tonight knowing that two strangers are sleeping out in the cold. No, we just have to come up with living arrangements for you two."

All of the sudden the pink pony started to jump up and down excitedly. "OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH, PRINCESS,PRINCESS! "

"Yes, um… Pinkie Pie?"

"I have an extra bed! Can one of them stay with me? ?"

Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Come to think about it, I think there's an extra bed at Twilights place."

Celestia thought about it for a moment. "Yes, I don't see why not. If that's alright with them." She looked over at Adam and Zhar.

"Um…" Adam's words where caught in his throat as he say Pinkie Pie staring at him with large, puppy eyes. He tapped Zhars shoulder and they turned around.

"If we do this, you have to be on your best behavior. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

They both turned around. "Alright, I go and stay at this "Twilight's" and Zhar… Will stay With Pinkie Pie, I guess."

"!" The pink pony cheered out at it ran over to Zhar. "Oh, were going to have so much fun! We'll listen to music! Dance! Drink punch! Oh, I can show you how to make cupcakes!Thenwecanbraideachothersmanes!Thenwecanjumbaround!Thenwecansleep!OH,! Come On!" She yelled out before she bolted out of the room.

Zhar just stood there for a moment. Rainbow Dash flew behind him. "Yea, she gets a little hard to understand when she's excited."

Zhar rubbed his head for a moment. "Well I must have the same amount of crazy in my head 'cause I understood every word she said."

"UM, COME ON!" . Zhar jumped away and turned, surprised to find Pinkie Pie standing behind him. Adam was also surprised. He could have sworn he just saw her run out of the door.

"Follow me!" She said to Zhar before she jumped out the window. Zhar looked at the door, then to the window. " How did she…?"

Rainbow dash spoke again. "Yea, first rule of Pinkie Pie logic: Don't question Pinkie Pie logic."

Zhar shrugged. "Fair enough." He said before he went over to the window. "Later, chumps."

"Zhar!" Adam called out before Zhar jumped. Zhar turned to face him.

"Behave."

Zhar sighed before replying. "Yes mom. I'll take the trash out when I get home." Then he jumped out.

Adam rolled his eyes. Adam turned to see the room empty, save for him and Dash. "Wasn't there more of you a second ago?"

Dash looked at him confused. "Yea they already left."

"Ah." Adam said before looking back at the window.

Dash laughed and started toward the door. "Come on, I'll show you the way there."

Adam replied without turning around. "You go on ahead. I'll catch up in a second."

Dash nodded and flew out of the room. Adam went over and picked up the duffel bag. He sighed.

"How come whenever I get into situations like this, I'm always get stuck having to babysit him?" HE said before following Dash out of the room.

"So what was your name again?" Pinkie Pie asked as she skipped down the road. "Was it Zack? Zackary? Mark?"

"It's Zhar." Zhar said as he followed the small pony. He sincerely whished that the pony would take a more secluded route. He was used to getting weird looks, but the feeling of hundreds of small creatures staring at him made his stomach harden.

"Zhar? That's a funny name." She replied as she turned down a random alley.

"Yea didn't I tell ya? Well my father was a comedian…" Zhar started before he realized the pony was gone. He stopped and looked around before the pony responded.

"Yea, that's too weird. Mind if I call you Zack?" She asked. Zhar looked up and saw the pony staring down from the roof of the building beside him.

"Um…that's not really my name but sure, what the hell?" He answered.

"Great!" Pinkie pie cheered out before jumping down on top of Zhars head. "Come on! Sugarcube Corner is just around corner!" She fell off Zhars shoulders, laughing at her own joke.

"Right… So you own your own bakery?"

"Oh, no! Mr. and Mrs. Cake run it. I just live in the loft upstairs, but they let me help out sometimes when they got a lot of orders. Well usually they do. This one time I put so much yeast in a cake I was making that it expanded so much that it exploded when I poked it with a fork!"

"Ok… so you work there?"

"Yea, but sometimes when they go away they let me run the place. OH, I just remembered this one time when they were gone for a whole week and I thought they were DEAD! I was so sad! But then they came back and it was kinda awkward."

"It must have been."

"Yea, I guess it would be strange if you showed up to your own funeral."

"Zhar turned the corner saw a large building at the end of the street shaped like a cake.

"OH, THAT'S IT!" Pinkie Pie cried out as she took off down the street.

"Called it." Zhar said to himself as he followed the pony inside.

The first think he noticed was the overwhelming seant of baked goods coming from the kitchen. The last time he was this over whelmed by smells was when

"HI!" Zhar jumped and turned around to find Pinkie Pie standing right behind him _How does she keep doing that? _He thought to himself.

"Let me show you around!" She said as she pushed at Zhars leg with her head. First they went into the kitchen. "This is the kitchen! This is where I bake stuff!"

Next they went back into the main room. "This is the foyer! This is where we party!" She ran up the stairs, leaving Zhar behind. _Good to know. _He thought to himself.

Pinkie poked her head down and called out to Zhar. "Come on Zachy! I want to show you where you'll be sleeping!"

Zhar nodded. "Be right up." He said as he started to climb the stairs.

Pinkie Pie then dragged him in what appeared to be a spare bedroom. "This is the spare room! This is where you'll be staying!" She ran up and started jumping on the bed.

Zhar took a good look around. The room was about the size of his quarters onboard the _Invincible. _It had a decent sized bed, a dresser, and a window with a good view of the road. "Not bad. Better than my first apartment."

Pinkie Pie just kept jumping on the bed. "Yea! I love it, but I don't really use it much anymore. Well, except for private time I guess."

Zhar took a mental step back. _What did she just say? _

Before Zhar could say anything, his stomach started to growl. HE had forgotten the last thing he ate was a month old Twinkie he had found in a air duct on the _Invincible. _He was starving.

"Someones hungry…" Pinkie Pie cheered as she brushed up against Zhars leg. "You should eat!"

Zhar rubbed his stomach. "Well, since I've been in a coma for the past 26 hours, I guess I could catch a bite to eat."

"Great!" She cried out. "Soooooooo, what do you eat? Hay?"

"No."

"Grass?"

"Not since my teen years."

"Pie?"

Zhar thought for a moment. He's only had pie twice in his life, and those two times they were prepared by army cooks.

"Sure, I like pie." He said.

"Great! I'll go make us one! " She yelled out before she ran out of the room, leaving Zhar alone.

She then ran back into the room. "Oh, yea! Just make yourself at home! I'll be done in a sec!" She said then ran back downstairs.

Zhar sat on the bed and picked up a still photograph that sat on the table. Again, Pinkie Pie ran into the room. "Oh, yea! Don't look in the bottom drawer!" she said then opened the window and jumped out.

Zhar looked over to the dresser. _Why did she say that? _He thought to himself as he fought back the urge to look.

Finally, giving into his curiosity, he opened the bottom drawer. He found a white towel covering its contents. Pulling back the towel, it took him a while to realize what he was looking at.

_Wait, is that a…?_

Zhar quickly replaced the towel and closed the drawer, vowing to never think about its contents again. _Why would a pony NEED something like that? _He thought to himself as Pinkie Pie called out from downstairs.

"Zacky, the pie's done!"

_Crap! _Zhar thought as he walked down the stairs. He joined Pinkie Pie in the kitchen.

"Be carefull, it's hot!" She said as she placed the pie on the counter. Zhar took a piece and put it in his mouth. He had to pause for a moment to process the taste.

"Well?" Pinkie Pie asked, nervous.

"This is the best damn pie, ever. Of all time." He said as he swallowed the piece of pie.

"Great!" She cheered out as she jumped up and down, excited.

"Hey you got anything to drink? You know, with alcohol?" Zhar asked as he put another piece of pie in his mouth.

"Oh, yea! Sure! Be right back!" She replied before running out of the room.

Zhar finished with the pie around the same time the pink pony retuned, with a clear bottle in her mouth.

"Time to get the sea-monkey plastered." Zhar said to himself as he unscrewed the lid and took a large gulp from the bottle.

As soon as some of the liquid slid down his throat, Zhar literally gagged. His entire mouth was on fire. "God, what proof is this? Is it over nine-thousand or something?"

"I don't really remember. I just use it when I get cuts!" She said as she trotted out of the kitchen.

_What? _He thought to himself as he looked at the label on the bottle. He saw that it was C2H5OH.

Rubbing alcohol.

"No, I mean, like drinkable alcohol. You know beer? Ale? Cider? Vodka? Tequila? Scotch? Rum? Whisky? Absinthe? Gin? Brandy? "

Pinkie Pie leaned her head back into the kitchen. "Nope! None of that stuff! My friends don't let me drink anymore!" She giggled before she ran up the stairs.

Zhar stayed in the kitchen, thinking for a moment. That was probably the best damn pie he ever had. True that what he saw in the bottom drawer disturbed him deeply, but he had seen worse.

He looked down at the bottle in his hands.

_Alcohol is alcohol ._He thought as he chugged the liquid down his throat.

"So then, I punched him in the face! It was Awesome!" Rainbow Dash said as she and Adam where walking toward the Library.

"Mh-hm. Great story." Adam said, half thinking. "Are we almost there yet?"

"Yea almost I guess…" Dash answered with a sigh. "So, where are from?"

"What?" Adam asked. He hadn't been paying attention. He was thinking a lot about everything that was going on. He wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't contact anyone which meant he and Zhar were stuck here.

"I asked where you where from?" Dash replied.

Adam rolled his eyes. _Great._

"If that's ok to ask?" Dash said, seeing Adams reaction.

"Its fine." He said as they turned a corner. "I'm from a lot of places."

"Ok…" Dash replied before asking another question. "Do you have any family?"

"No."

"You don't have any family at all?"

"No."

"Do you have any friends?"

Adam thought for a moment. He guessed that after everything they had been through together, he could consider Jak, Scott, Zhar, and Samantha his friends. "Yea, a few."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

Adam shot her a look, suddenly thinking about Samantha.

Dash noticed the look. "Guyfriend?"

"What, No!"

"Hey I'm not judging you or anything! Just…"

"No, I'm not in any type of relationship." He said with finality. "Shall we?"

Dash turned around and flew down an alley. He had guessed the Library couldn't be that far from the hospital, but the Pegasus was probably taking down this path to avoid drawing attention.

Adam was perfectly fine with that. Library's meant books and books meant he could find out more about this backward world he was now in. He might even get lucky and find a way out of there.

Dash blew her hair out of her eyes. "Just trying to make conversation." She said with distain in her voice.

"Sorry. It's just that I'm kinda stressed." Adam said.

"Stressed out about what?" She turned around and shouted.

Adam stopped and looked at her. She then realized how stupid her question was.

"Do you really just ask me that?" Adam shot back.

"Sorry… Derp moment." She said as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof.

Adam noticed the jester. "Are you hurt?" He asked.

"Huh?" She asked while she took a moment to get her bearings.

He pointed at her. "Before, when I put you in a head lock, did I hurt you?"

She blushed and looked away. "Oh, uh… No I'm fine. You just caught me off guard, that's all." She said as she turned around a corner.

"Right." Adam said as he turned the same corner.

"Speaking of which," She started. "Where did you learn to fight like that? I know you're a human, but I've never seen anypony take on three of Celestia's best guards _and _win!"

Adam took the compliment modestly. "Yea well I learned from the best." He said as they came out of the ally. Dash looked around to make sure the coast was clear.

"Also, what's with that mark on your arm? Is that your Cutie Mark or something?" She asked as she looked around.

_What? _He thought as he looked to his arm to see the mark she was talking about.

The mark was a number. _E229. _HE knew what it was.

"No, it's my number."

"Your number?"

"It's a long story."

After deciding it was clear, the two then exited the ally and started making their way to a big tree. Adam stopped.

"What's wrong?" Dash looked back and asked.

"A tree." Adam responded.

"What?"

"Your friend lives in a tree."

"Oh, yea. She lives at the Library."

"Which is a tree."

"Yup."

Adam looked at the tree for a moment. "I see… so she's a shut-in?"

"Yea, pretty much." Dash replied before opening the door and walking in.

_Of course. _He thought to himself as he bent under the door frame and walked in. Surprisingly the roof was pretty high up. He expected to be hitting the ceiling with his head, but he had plenty of room to menuver.

Adam looked around the room. He saw the walls lined with books. He put the duffel bag on the floor and walked over to one of the bookcases and pulled a book out. Being surrounded by knowledge didn't mean anything if he couldn't read it.

He opened to the front page and read the title in his head.

_Supper Naturals- Natural cures that are just super._

_Good. _He thought to himself as he closed the book and tossed it onto a table. "So where's the librarian?" He asked Dash, who was staring at a picture on the table.

"Huh?" She asked as she turned around.

"This is a library right?" He asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded her head.

"So where's the librarian?" he asked again.

Dash finally processed the question. "Oh, I, uh…"

Adam, hearing her pause, stared intently at the flying pony. Dash's eyes were darting around the room.

"Um, she's… Gone!" She answered at last.

Adam was growing suspicious. "She's gone? Where is she?"

Dash paused for a moment again. "Yea, ummm… She had to go away! On family business! Yea, she left a few days ago!"

"I see." Adam replied as he walked across the room. "Don't you think she'll be a little pissed when she finds out you let a stranger stay in her house?"

"Oh, she'll be fine with it." She said as she flew over to the door. "She won't be back for a while."

Adam turned toward the picture she was looking at before. She had knocked it over when he asked his question.

"Anyway, I gotta get going. Just make yourself at home I guess." Dash said as she stood outside, looking around nervously.

"Um…Ok." Adam replied before turning back to the photo. "Bye."

"Bye!" She said as she slammed the door. Adam took another look at the photo. There were six ponies in the frame. Three of them he recognized as Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, but there were three more he couldn't recognize.

One of them was white with a beautiful, purple hair. She had what looked like three diamonds on her right flank.

The other one was light orange, with three apples on her right flank. He guessed she would have a southern accent, on account of her hat she wore.

The one in the middle was light lavender, with purple hair with a light red and purple streak running down. She also had a horn, so he assumed that this was the Twilight everyone seemed to be going on about. She seemed like the type who would spend her nights shut up, reading.

Then he heard the door open again. He turned to see Rainbow Dash again at the door. The pony looked a bit panicked.

"Oh, yea, The princess told me to tell you that she doesn't want you or your friend leaving town anytime soon."

Adam placed the photo back down on the table and turned to face Dash.

Now he was on edge.

"Why?" He asked. He checked the demanding tone in his voice.

Dash looked around, nervously. "I don't know. She doesn't want you to, ok?"

Adam walked to the other side of the room. She was lying to him, and he knew she knew it. The worst part about this whole thing is that they weren't telling him the whole truth. He wanted to keep pressing the issue, but he decided that he had been through enough today.

"Alright, fine. But tell your Princess that I would like to speak to her in the morning." Adam finished.

"Ok, well… goodnight." She said as she closed the door.

"Night." He said as he took another book of the shelf and read the title. _History of Equestria- volume 1. _He took the rest of the volumes off the shelf, sat down at the table, and began to read.

About an hour passed before the door opened the door. Adam pulled the knife out of its sheath on his shoulder and concealed it inside the book. A small, purple creature walked through the main room and over to the sink in the next room, completely unaware of Adams presence.

It came out of the kitchen and looked over to the table with the photograph. He picked it up and took a long look at it before placing it back on the table. It sighed. "Oh Twlight. Please be ok." He heard it say.

He wasn't very surprised at this point. With everything that he had seen and heard today, he wouldn't be surprised if the books started talking to him.

Turning around, the creature saw the spot where Adam had taken the books. It walked over to the spot. "Weren't there books here when I left?" It said to itself.

Adam looked back down at the book and turned the page. The noise had apparently been enough for the creature to hear.

The creature turned around to find a human sitting at the desk, reading.

For a minute the creature just stared at him. Finally, it spoke up. "Um…hi?"

Adam, without looking up from the book, replied. "Hello."

Another minute passed before it spoke again. "Um… Who are you?"

"Names Adam." Adam said as he turned another page.

"Oh…" The creature said.

"So what are you?" Adam asked.

"Oh, um I'm Spike. I'm a dragon."

This time Adam looked up from the book. "You're a dragon?"

"Yea."

Adam examined the small creature. It was short, to say the least. It had green spikes running down its head and back (probably how he got its name.). It also walked on its hind legs.

"Not very impressive. I at least expected wings." He said as he looked back into the book.

"Hey! It's not my fault! I have wing! They just have to grow…" It said as his voice dropped. "Anyway, are you that human that Fluttershy found?"

"Yup." Adam said as he quietly sheathed his knife. "Your Princess said I could stay here for a while."

"Oh, ok then…" Spike said as he started up the stairs."Well there are some spare sheets in the linen closet, if you need 'em."

"Thanks." Adam said as he turned another page in the book.

"Um, goodnight, I guess." It said as it went up the stairs.

"Night." Adam said as he was still reading.

HE had no intention of going to sleep tonight.

Time: Nighttime

Location: Castle ruins in Everfree forest.

Celestia stood in what was an old castle she and her sister used to inhabit. It was the place they were raised. The place where Celestia had to seal her sister in the moon. The place where Twilight and her friends used the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon. Now it was the place where they had to hide from their enemy.

"I'm sorry for the accommodations, your majesties, but it was the only real location that was secure." The guard Captain said as he walked in.

"It's fine Captain." Luna said to the guard. "We understand."

"Thank you, milady." The guard said as he bowed his head. He turned to Celestia next. "What should we do about the human and his…companion?"

Celestia stared out the window at the sky. "For now just continue to watch them. Make sure they don't leave town."

The guard bowed his head and exited the room, leaving the two alone.

Luna walked over to her sister. "Do you think it's a little wrong? Not telling them about what's going on?"

Celestia didn't look away from the sky. "I know its wrong lying to them. But until we learn of their intentions, I want to keep it quite."

Luna looked out the window as well and sat down next to her sister. "But what if something terrible happens? They might be able to help."

"I know they can help, but _will _they? We've dealt with humans before. While they have an incredibly capacity for compassion, they also have the same capacity for selfishness. And the other creature, this "Elite", we don't even know anything about him. No, unless the situation develops, I'm going to keep it quite."

Luna stood up and started to exit the room. "You should get some rest. You haven't had any for days."

"Very well." Luna said to her sister with a sigh. "I'll see you in the morning."

She left the room, leaving Celestia alone.

_I just hope they can help. _Celestia thought to herself as she looked back into the night sky.

Time: Nighttime

Location: Deep inside the Everfree forest

The brutes sat around the campfire they had made for themselves. Around, they were busy gouging themselves on their provisions of fruit that they had brought with them.

"This fruit is starting to get to sweet for my tastes." One of the brutes complained to the one sitting beside him.

"Same here." The brute responded to the first. "If I see another apple I swear I'll kill everything I see."

"I don't see how you could." A third brute said, entering the conversation. "If I do not eat a slab of meat soon, I'm afraid I'll waste away to nothing."

"I don't see why we can't. We could just kill one of these miserable pony creatures. Just a small bit would be enough for me."

"What about those cows we passed? We could have killed them! No one would ever know, and we would be satisfied."

"SILENCE!" the chieftain screamed as it came up behind them. "You know the Prophets commands! We are not to kill unless we are attacked first!"

All the brute's around the fire fell silent. The chieftain walked up to the two who had started the talk. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes chieftain." All the brutes responded together.

"Chieftain!" A brute came from behind the chieftain.

"What is it?" The chieftain responded.

"Its Taricus! He wants a report of our findings!" The brute responded, out of breath.

The Chieftain took another look at his pack and walked over to the consol they had set up. Ne knelt as a hologram of a massive brute appeared.

"My chieftain." The brute responded, putting his hand to his chest.

"_I want a report, Malikus. Did you find anything in the pony city?" _ The holographic brute asked.

"I'm afraid our search was in vain, Chieftain. We ransacked the city, but we found no traces of the runaway Princesses." The kneeing brute said.

The holographic brute huffed out a shallow breath. Malikus knew the Chieftain was angry. "A thousand pardons, Chieftain, For it is my fault of our failures, not my pack."

"_This is most troubling, Malikus. The Prophet grows impatient. Where are you going to search next?" _

" A small town to the east. I heard a rumor from the townsfolk that their princess was sighted there."

The Holographic brute crossed its arms on its chest. "_Very good, Malikus. I expect a report of your findings."_

The brute looked up. "Of course, Chieftain."

With that, the holographic brute disappeared. Malikus turned to his pack. "Rest tonight, brothers. For tomorrow, we start our search again."

The brutes all nodded. "For the glory of the Prophet!" Malikus shouted at the top of his lungs.

"_For the glory of the Prophet!" _all the brutes yelled in response.

Malikus returned to his bedroll and began to fest into a melon. His brutes were right. He could feel the bloodlust rising inside.

He would find those princesses, even if he had to tear every single one of those ponies apart if he had to.

Taricus closed the communication he had set up with the away team. He brushed the top of his head with his hand. What was he going to tell the Prophet? That his pack continued to fail at finding any trace of the princesses.

The brute exited the communication room and walked down the castle halls to the throne room. He stopped in front of the massive door guarded by two of the Prophets high guards. They stood aside and Taricus entered.

He stopped as the door closed. HE knelt to one knee. "All exalted Prophet of Faith."

The San 'Shyuum sitting in his floating chair in front of the window. It turned to face the grayish brute.

"Taricus, so good to see you. Come in, come in." The prophet motioned the brute forward.

Taricus stood up and walked toward the Prophets throne. The Prophet lifted a bottle of wine and poured himself a small glass of wine. As he took a small sip, he turned to face the brute. Again, the brute took a knee.

"Tell me, Taricus, what has your packs investigation turned up?" The prophet asked.

The brute took a deep breath. "I'm afraid our efforts have proved fruitless, most holy one. At this point we're just searching on rumors we hear on the street."

The prophet exhaled and closed his eyes. Taricus could feel the feeling of disappointment bearing on his shoulders. "Forgive me my holiness. For it is my fault for their failure. Exact your punishment of me in their stead."

The prophet looked down at the brute with amusment. "Do not be so hard on yourself, Taricus. Your pack is doing the best chasing the runaway Princesses. Have faith, my friend, as I do."

"Thank you, most holy one. You honor me." Taricus responded.

The prophet turned back toward the window. "Our work here is just beginning, Taricus, but it can only begin when we wash away the stain that those two ignorant Alicorns have made on their people. Once we find them and the treasure, we shall lead these wonderful creatures down on the path to Godhood."

Taricus rose to his feet. "Yes, most holy prophet."

The prophet took another sip of his wine and cleared his throat. "Now and go and visit our scholar pony. It's time for her to report her findings."

"Yes, prophet. Shall I have her write it for you?"

The prophet thought for a moment. "No. Bring her before me. I'd like to hear it from her in person."

The brute turned and exited the throne room, making his way toward the Library.

The prophet, alone, rested his head on his hand and took another sip of his wine.

**Hello, minions. Freerider2901 here. Long-ass chapter right? This took me a better part of the week.**

**So… New season of MLP:FIM comes out tomorrow, which is kinda why I wanted to get this out before then.**

**Soooo… lots of unanswered questions, right? Like why is a Spartan super-solider and an Elite Special Forces agent in a land filled with magical talking ponies?**

**What does the mysterious prophecy mean?**

**Where's Twilight Sparkel, AppleJack, and Rarity?**

**Why are there brutes in Canterlot?**

**What treasure does the Prophet of Faith want so badly?**

**What's inside Pinkie Pies bottom drawer? **

**Yea, you'll find the answers to these questions in the coming chapters. **

**Fun-fact time: I had originally intended to make Adam and Zhar turn into ponies. The shock I imagined of Adam and Zhar waking up in new bodies would have been hilarious, but I decided against it because that plot device has been overused so much. Plus it acts as a way to keep me from any shipping between show characters and my OC's.**

**OR WILL IT? (.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw) (lol)**

**No, probably not.**

**Anyway, Next update coming up in a few weeks. Continue to read&review!**

**See ya! (opens window)**

**Freerider2901 away! (flies away)**

Next chapter: Protocol dictates action


	3. Chapter 3: Protocol Dictates Action

**It's update time, everyone!**

**Freerider2901 here with the next exiting installment of the ongoing zany adventures of Adam and Zhar! What will happen this chapter? I know I know!**

**Anyway, during the course of the series you may notice some bold text in parenthesis. In them is will be the title of the song I listen to during the writing. I suggest listening to it, just to set a mood. Unless your in a crowded area, then in that case pump that jam up! **

**Anyway, stick around after the chapter. See ya then!**

Chapter 3: Protocol Dictates Action

Time: Early Morning

Location: Sugarcube Corner

"Zacky! Time to wake up!" Pinkie Pie yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Zhar rolled over in his bed.

He opened his eyes slightly only to shut them back tight. _Dammit. Hung-over again. _He thought to himself. It took him for a minute to register that there was a bottle in his hand. He rolled over and held it above his head.

He opened his eyes and took a good look at the bottle. _Why the hell was I drinking rubbing alcohol?_

"Come on, Zacky!" Pinkie Pie shouted as she danced around the bed, making her way the window.

_Oh God please don't. _He pleaded inside his head.

Pinkie Pie bit on the blind cord and pulled back. Even with his eyes closed, his eyes hurt when the bright light his face.

"Come on!" She said out loud as she began to shake Zhar. "I want to show you around town!"

Zhar groaned and rolled back onto his stomach. "Please go away. I need my beauty sleep."

"Oh, come on!" Pinkie started to whine. "Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!"

_Why can't anyone ever take a hint? _ HE thought as he did his best to tune out the crazy pink pony. Eventually when the pony left the room Zhar had thought he won. HE breathed a sigh of relief and rolled onto his side.

Just then a heavy metallic object hit him square of the side of the head. He rolled off the bed, clutching his face.

"Ow! What the hell?" He shouted as he turned to see Pinkie Pie standing beside the bed with a metal pipe in her mouth. Zhar was absolutely horrified. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked as he nursed his head.

Pinkie Pie spit the pipe out before answering. "What? That's how the other guy got you to wake up before." She replied innocently.

"Yea, but I was in a coma when he did that, and he sure as hell didn't use a damn pipe! God that hurt!" Zhar shot back, still in pain.

"Well that'll be a lesson for both of us! Pinkie Pie responded cheerfully. She skipped out of the room. "Come on! You promised last night that you would let me show you around town!"

Zhar followed the pony out of the room and thought about what she had just said. "When did I say that? I don't remember saying anything like that."

"Well of course you don't! You were wasted!" She replied as she walked down the stairs.

Zhar looked back to the pony. "Really?" He asked.

"Yep!" She replied as she opened the door and walked out.

_I didn't even know you could get drunk off of rubbing alcohol_. He thought as he followed Pinkie Pie out of the bakery.

The two went on a ways through the town, with Pinkie Pie constantly stopping to point out the most insignificant detail.

_Worst tour guide ever. _Zhar thought to himself. Eventually the two came to a large grey building. Before she could tell him about it, Pinkie Pie saw the mayor and ran off the greet her. "Oh! Hi Mayor!"

"Oh, Pinkie Pie." The old mare said as she turned to greet her.

"How are you? Are you feeling better? Worse? Are you getting enough to eat? Drink?" The rest of Pinkie Pie's words then began to jumble together and mix beyond recognition and Zhar gave up trying to understand her.

"Yes!" The grey pony finally shouted out, frustrated. She composed herself for a minute before she spoke again. "Yes, I'm fine, Pinkie Pie. Now what brings you here?"

"Oh, I'm showing Zacky here around town!" She replied happily. The Mayor looked past Pinkie Pie to see Zhar standing not too far behind her.

"I see…" The mayor's voice trailed off. ZHar decided to greet the mayor as well.

"Name's Zhar Zehiomie. Pleasure to meet you." He said as he extended his arm. The Mayor gave him a weird look and Zhar withdrew his arm. _Not awkward at all. _He thought to himself.

"The pleasures all mine…" Again the mayor's voice trailed off, almost like she wasn't paying attention.

"Yea!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "We found him and this other guy in the middle of the Everfree forest! We took them to the hospital and they went nuts and almost killed each other!"

"I see. So, um, Pinkie, is, um, "He", staying with you?" The mayor asked, moving closer to Pinkie ear.

"Yea!" Pinkie enthusiastically replied. "The Princess said he could!"

"I see..." The mayor replied again. "I'm sorry, but I have a lot of work to do. Would you mind…?"

"Of course not!" Pinkie again replied enthusiastically.

"Speaking of work to do, Pinkie Pie, Can you show me to the library?" Zhar turned around and asked.

"That's where we were heading next… so yes!" She replied as she bounced up and down.

"Great." Zhar replied then began to walk off, leaving the two ponies alone.

Before she trotted away, the mayor stopped Pinkie Pie and whispered a question. "Pinkie Pie, have you heard anything about Miss Sparkle yet?"

Pinkie Pie's smile instantly died away and she dropped her head. Then she slowly nodded no.

Zhar didn't hear Pinkie Pie answer, but from her reaction to the question he knew that something wasn't right.

Then the two started toward the library.

Time: Early morning

Location: Ponyville Library

(_Knock)(Knock)_

Spike woke up to the noise of the door being knocked on. Reluctantly, he forced himself to roll off his small bed and start toward the stairs.

"Hey, uh, can you get the door?" He called out from the top of the stairs. He waited a few seconds, but didn't hear a reply. In fact, since their chat last night, Spike hadn't heard the human say anything. He figured that he was probably asleep.

(_Knock)(Knock)_

"Hang on. Hang on." He said as he started down the stairs. When he got to the bottom, he found the library in a mess. Open book laid all over the place. HE looked over to the corner to see the human standing up, reading a book.

_And I thought Twilight was bad. _Spike thought to himself as he groaned.

(_Knock)(Knock)_ (_Knock)(Knock)_

"I'm Coming! Hold on!" he shouted at the door. He picked up a few books lying close to him. "You know I have to clean this place up, right?" he said as he walked toward the door.

"Sorry." Adam replied without turning around. He then closed the book he was reading and threw it on a table. Then he walked over and picked up another book off the shelf.

Spike sighed and reached up to turn the doorknob. The door flew open, knocking him clear across the room and landed on a pile of books.

"Hi Spike!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she walked through the doorway.

Spike groaned and picked himself up. "Hello, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie Pie came into the main room and looked around. She saw Adam in the corner and then looked at Spike. "Spike, did you and Mr. Guy throw a party and not invite me?"

"No." Spike said coldly and brushed the dust of his chest. HE then started to pick up the books spammed all over the floor. He was about to pick up another book when a large shadow dropped over him. HE looked up to see a tall, dark figure standing over him.

Spike backed up a bit and took a deep breath. This thing was so big it could crush with a stomp of its foot. The creature then took it foot and kicked Spike right in the stomach, causing his to exhale quickly and drop his books. The creature looked down and addressed him.

"Oh sorry little guy. Didn't see you there." It then bent done to help him pick up his dropped books.

"It's fine." Spike hastily replied. HE took his books and hurried over to the shelf to put them away.

"Hey keep those out! I'm not done with them!" Adam finally said, causing the dragon to jump a bit. Again his books fell to the ground. Finally he just threw his hands up and gave up. "If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen." HE grumbled before leaving the room.

"Sounds like somebody's being a little purple grumpy pants!" Pinkie Pie cheered after the dragon.

Zhar decided that he would be the bigger man (or alien in this case) and picked a few of the books and placed them back on the shelf. Zhar then walked over to Adam and plucked the book out of his hand. He read the title out loud.

"_Works of Yesterday. A Collection of Poems from Celestia's youth." _ He said with a chuckle. "Are you seriously reading poetry?"

Adam pushed Zhar and walked over to the book he was reading earlier. "You can learn a lot about a culture from their literature." He opened to the page he left off on. "You could probably learn a thing or two if you got your damn head out of the gutter."

Zhar rolled his eyes and opened to the small book. He read the poem then threw the book away. "Sounds boring. I'd rather party."

Pinkie Pie's head perked up at the word "Party".

Adam continued reading. "Is that why you're hung over?"

Zhar shook his head. "Who knows? Did you know you could get drunk off of rubbing alcohol?"

Adam looked at Zhar with a _Really? _Look on his face. "Yes Idiot. Most rubbing alcohols are at least 70% alcohol." He looked down in his book then looked back up. "Wait, why were you drinking rubbing alcohol?"

"Well she didn't have any regular booze, so I had to improvise." Zhar said as he pointed toward Pinkie Pie, who was just sitting and watching the two go at it.

Adam turned to face Zhar. "Why were you drinking in the first place? I told you to behave yourself."

"And I did… Up until the point I blacked out. After that I don't know." Zhar said as he walked over to the table, looking at the map laying there. "So what? You're a geographer now?"

Adam sighed. "No, just trying to get familiar with the terrain."

Zhar placed the map down and continued to walk around the table. "Speaking of which, you find us a way out of here yet?"

Adam put the book down and placed his hands on the table. "The hell do you think?" He said with distain.

Zhar replied. "You spent the whole night reading and you didn't find anything?"

"More work than you've done within the past few hours." Adam replied harshly. "That anomaly that we got sucked into back in the ruins must have been some type of Forerunner portal device. The only I see us getting back is if we find one like it."

Zhar nodded his head slowly and completed his path. "I don't suppose that they just happen to have one of those just lying around." They then both turned to find Pinkie Pie stacking a pile of books. She turned her head and smiled at them both.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say no." Adam said as Zhar waved at her.

"So we're stuck here?" Zhar said, turning around.

"Afraid so." Adam replied with a groan.

Zhar sighed. "Fanfreakintastic." He said.

Time: Early Morning

Location: Fluttershy's cottage

Several minutes earlier

The door of the small cottage opened. A second later Fluttershy came out with a small bucket in her mouth.

"Come on girls! It's time to feed the chickens!" She called back into the house. Soon after, three small fillies trotted out, each one of them still tired from being woken up so early.

The small orange Pegasus groaned a bit, then collapsed onto the ground.

"Don't you think it's a little early, Miss Fluttershy? The sun just barely got up!" She complained.

"Oh shut it with the whinnen, Scootaloo!" The light yellow earth pony said. "We promised to help!"

"Yea!" The white unicorn chimed in. "We might even get our Cutie Marks!"

"What?" The orange Pegasus responded. "Who wants a chicken feeder as their Cutie mark?"

"Fits you perfectly." The yellow earth pony responded. The white unicorn just giggled.

"Very funny." Scootaloo responded before getting up."Let's just get this done! I've got homework to do!"

"You didn't get your homework done?" The white unicorn asked. "Why?"

"Don't you know anything?" Scootaloo snapped back. "The new Call of Cutie just came out! I've been playing online all weekend!"

"Lucky." The yellow pony said. "I had to help Big Macintosh in the orchard all day yesterday."

"I had to clean up the boutique yesterday too." The young unicorn added.

The two ponies then stood there for a second, deep in their thoughts. The unicorn let a small tear fall from her eye.

Fluttershy looked over to the three. She could feel their sadness. They were probably feeling the worst.

"Um, girls? Chickens?" She was able to squeak out.

The three turned around and started towards Fluttershy. "Sorry Miss Fluttershy! We're coming!" The yellow pony shouted back at her.

Once they were all there, Fluttershy divided the chicken feed into four separate piles. Each pony took a small bit and walked around the pen, spreading feed.

"Now girls, be sure not to leave big piles or spread it out too much." She said gracefully. The three ponies nodded and continued their work.

"Um, Miss Fluttershy? Looks like one of your chickens got out again." Applebloom said. Fluttershy turned to see that she was right. There was a small hole in the fence along with a set of tracks leading out.

"Oh, Mrs. Fleatherball." She sighed to herself as she walked over to the fence. "I could have sworn that Moon Ray fixed that."

"Should we go after it?" Scootaloo asked, walking up. Fluttershy flew over the fence and started toward the forest edge. She turned back to the three fillies.

"No, um, you three just stay there." She said weakly before she poked her head into the foliage. "I'll just, um, go look a bit."

Mustering her courage, she took a few steps into the forest. She walked a bit before she unknowingly bumped into something hairy. She looked up to a heart-stopping sight.

Standing in front of her was a brute, looking straight at her.

It huffed a bit. Fluttershy was paralyzed with fright. She moved her eyes to see even more of them behind it.

_The girls. _Was all she could think at the moment. She scrambled to her feet and tried to take flight. The brute made a grab for the pony, but Fluttershy managed to get out of reach just in time.

She raced to get out of the forest back to the three. The brute, not far behind her, broke into chase.

Eventully she reached the edge of the forest. She could see the girls, still feeding the chickens.

"Girls!" She shouted before the brute grabbed her tail, throwing her to the ground.

The three fillies turned, confused to why she was shouting to them. They turned to see Fluttershy on the pinned to the ground by a massive, ape like creature.

Upon seeing them, the brute released a horrifying roar at them.

"Run!" Fluttershy was able to get out before the brute pinned her underneath its foot.

Terrified, the three fillies took off running back into town. The brute started in pursuit, but was stopped by a harsh voice.

"Stand down!" The chieftain shouted. The brute instantly stopped and walked back toward the chieftain. The brute stopped instantly and dropped his head in a bow.

Another brute walked up behind the chieftain. "Are you sure, chieftain?"

"Yes." The chieftain replied, angry.

"But they could warn the townspeople!"

"Let them.." The chieftain said. Fluttershy tried to get up, but was kicked back onto the ground by another brute.

"But the princesses! If they are here they will escape!" The brute said, desperate.

"Then we will send them a message." The chieftain said with finality. He motioned for two other brutes toward Fluttershy. One grabbed her mane and dragged her away.

Another brute walked over to the chieftain. "You go against the Prophets commands." It said, just inches away from the chieftains face. The chieftain inched his face closer, growling fiercely at the other. The brute took a step back. The other brutes stopped and stared at the two.

The chieftain took a look around and turned to face the brute. "I go against the Prophets will so I can fulfill it." He hissed out.

"You seek damnation."

"I seek the princesses. If the Prophet damns my actions then I will accept it." The chieftain said to the group. "But I will find them. If I cannot, then I will make their people suffer for it."

The brute backed off, defeated. The chieftain huffed.

Inside his mind, he was terrified. If he went through with this, he will most certainly face damnation. But he didn't care. He could not bear giving disappointing reports to his chieftain and Prophet any longer.

He motioned his head forward. "Let's go send a message."

Time: Early Morning (present)

Location: Ponyville Library

"I'm just saying, if used properly, it could save wounded soldiers lives in the field!" Zhar responded.

Adam sighed and rolled his eyes. "How would medics carrying sildenafil citrate possibly save troops lives?"

Zhar leaned against the wall. "Well, take for example a squad of ODST's are in an arctic environment. We both now that at low enough temperatures, hypothermia can set in a matter of hours."

"You know that they have equipment for those types of situations, right?" Adam interrupted.

During this conversation, Spike wandered back into the main room. He walked over to Pinkie Pie and whispered into her ear.

"How long have they been arguing for?" He whispered quietly to avoid drawing attention.

"SHuuuuu…" Pinkie Pie responded. "This is starting to get interesting!"

"Just hear me out." Zhar said as he held out his hand. He continued. "Hypothermia forces the body temperature to lower because it makes the blood vessels contract, making it harder for blood to flow through the human body. The drug sildenafil citrate stimulates the blood vessels so more blood flows through the body."

"Yea, one particular part of the body." Adam interjected.

"Yea, maybe. But with blood focused in one general area, the trooper or squad of troops could use it like a heat lamp." Zhar responded back.

"You're an idiot. Shut up." Adam shot back with finality, turning back around. He went over to the duffel bag and pulled out his pistol. He checked the chamber and placed it into the holster on his hip. "Now come on, I need to find that rainbow one."

"Don't you mean Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Adam looked over to her. "Rainbow Dash. Right." He rolled his eyes.

Just then the Spike heard the door knock. He walked over and opened it to find Rainbow Dash standing there, wearing a white blouse and a red and black stripped skirt.

"Speak of the devil." Adam said quietly to himself.

"Oh, Dashie, You're here! And you're wearing the outfit I bought you!" Pinkie Pie yelled out as she went over to hug Dash.

"Uh… Hey Pinkie Pie." She said modestly as she returned the hug.

Adam, confused walked up to the two.

"Why are you…?" Adam started to ask.

Just then the countless memories of him having to confiscate data pads from Jak and Scott for viewing inappropriate content flooded his mind. He connected the dots inside his head.

Before she could open her mouth to answer, Adam interrupted again. "You know what, I've changed my mind. I honestly really don't wanna know."

"Yea, you probably don't wanna know." Dash responded, rubbing the back of her neck with her hoof.

"I'd like to know…" Zhar and Pinkie Pie said quietly to themselves. Adam and Dash turned to their respective to them and just stared.

"Anyway…" Adam started. He turned back to Rainbow Dash. "Take me to see the Princess. Now."

Rainbow Dash, getting nervous, started to slowly retreat to the other side of the room. "Um… I… uh… cant." She said

"Oh really?" Adam replied back. He walked over to the door, closed it, and locked it. "Why?"

"I, um… Got stuff to do."

"Well then tell me where I can find her. I'll talk to her myself."

Rainbow Dash just looked nervously around the room. "Um, no pony really knows where she is right now." She replied.

"Look," Adam said walking toward Dash. "I just want to talk to her. If I have to go out of my way to track her down, it's not going to end well." He replied coldly. HE was a two feet from Dash now. "So why don't you just take me to her, and I'll be nice."

Rainbow Dash mustered up what courage she had. "Hey, I already told you that no pony knows where she is! What do you want from me?"

Adam chuckled underneath his breath. He grabbed a handful of her blouse, slammed her into the wall, and pulled her close to his face. Staring deep into her eyes, he hissed his response.

"_I want the truth." _He hissed out. "From the moment I woke up, all anyone in this goddamn town has ever done is avoid me and lie to my face. Well I'm sick of it." HE pushed her against the wall again. "You're going to stop lying to me and tell me what the hell is really going on!"

Adam took a deep breath and waited for a moment. Rainbow Dash just hung there, staring deep into Adam's eyes, not sure how to respond.

"Well?" Adam barked out, causing Rainbow to shut her eyes tight. Zhar walked over to Adam and gripped his shoulder.

Adam just turned his head and glared at Zhar. Zhar returned the glare.

Adam then took another deep breath, surprised at his own outburst. Never in his life had he ever allowed himself to express his anger like that.

He released Dash who just moved to the other side of the room next to Pinkie Pie.

Adam looked back at Zhar and nodded. Zhar released Adam.

"Sorry." Adam turned to Dash and said.

"It's fine." Dash said. "I'm sorry. I can take you to her."

Adam nodded. HE walked over to the table and put his books away when the door began to knock loudly. Spike walked over to the door and opened it.

As soon as he did three small fillies ran toward Rainbow Dash, all on the verge of tears, talking a thousand words a minute. Even with his augmented hearing, Adam couldn't make out a word they were saying.

Apparently Dash was having the same problem. "Hey, hey!" She said to the three, trying to calm them down. "Slow down! What's wrong?"

The small light yellow one spoke first, fighting back her tears. "Well, we we're helping Miss Fluttershy with the chickens… Then one of 'em got out and she went to go look for it…"

"And then these things showed up!" The small white unicorn started. " They grabbed her and they started to come after us!"

Adam glanced over at Zhar, who just stared intently at the three fillies. _What things? _Adam thought to himself.

Rainbow seemed to know what they were talking about. She looked at each of the fillies. "Are you sure that's what happened?"

All three nodded.

"How long ago was this?' She asked.

"It just happened!" The orange Pegasus answered. "They chased us the whole time!"

"Who chased you?" Zhar spoke up, walking forward.

All three fillies just stared at Zhar and huddled together. Zhar sighed a bit to himself and backed away.

Rainbow Dash, in distress, began to pace back and forth across the room. "This isn't good. Not now. Please, not now." She whispered to herself.

Pinkie Pie was in the middle of comforting the three terrified children when the sound of a deep horn came from the entrance of town. Rainbow Dash picked her head up.

"No…" She whispered. "Not now."

Just about everyone rushed over to the upstairs window.

Adam looked out to see a group of dark figures walk slowly to a small hill near the outskirts of town. At first he couldn't make out some features.

Only when they came closer did he finally recognize them as Jiralhanae.

Brutes.

Adam glanced over to Zhar. He was staring intently at the brutes, tensed up. Adam looked back over to the brutes. He noted that there were 12 of them.

A full pack.

He looked toward the back to see that there was someone else with them. Whoever it was it definitely wasn't a brute. It looked familiar. It had a light yellow body and pink hair.

"Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie cried out as Adam recognized the hostage.

The chieftain (or at least the leader a far as Adam could tell) stepped forward. Even with the distance between it and the town, Adam could hear the brute speak clearly.

"Citizens of Equestria!" The chieftain yelled out, causing every pony in the room to jump a little.

The chieftain took a deep breath and waited, hoping that everyone could hear him. "I come to you today on the behalf of the Prophet of Faith! We have searched through this land, trying to track down the scum who dare call themselves you're rulers! For too long they have oppressed you, kept you from reaching your true potential! But then when the Prophet came to exact justice, you allow them to hide behind you like cowards! The Prophet does not wish for this! The prophet wishes for peace, but peace cannot come until the blood of the Princesses spill on the dirt!"

The chieftain paused for a moment before speaking again. "Celestia! I speak directly to you now! You hide behind your people, making them suffer for you're cowardness!"

The brute paused a moment for effect. Adam glanced back at Zhar. He could tell he was getting angry. He gripped at the window cill, digging his fingers in the wood. Adam could feel the rage building up inside him. Adam looked back out the window.

"Bring the prisoner forward!" The chieftain shouted to his pack behind him. One brute stepped forward, his hand gripping Fluttershy's hair. It stepped forward and threw Fluttershy to the ground in front of the chieftain.

"No…" Rainbow Dash whispered to herself again.

Fluttershy, obviously hurt, lied there on the ground in front of the chieftain. The chieftain reached over his shoulder and pulled out his massive metal hammer. The other brutes then took a collective step back.

The chieftain, looking back at the town, spoke again. "You have a choice, Princess! You can either step forward now and accept your fate…" The brute paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

"Or you can watch your loyal subjects die." He finished.

Zhar let go of the window cill and took off down the stairs.

Adam turned in time to see Zhar going out the front door. "Zhar! Dammit No!" Adam swore out as he broke into pursuit.

Before he exited the library, he tore open the duffel bag and pulled out a small metal bar. He stuffed it into his back pocket and raced out after Zhar.

The chieftain looked into the town again. He waited for some type of response.

After nothing happened, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "So be it." HE said at last.

"Chieftain…" another brute started. "She's not here, chieftain! You don't have to do this!"

The chieftain growled back at the brute. The brute took a step back, defeated.

"She is here." The chieftain replied. "She is hiding here, I know it."

The chieftain turned back around. "We will search through this town. We will find them. Kill anyone who resists." The brutes behind him bowed in acceptance. The chieftain stepped toward Fluttershy. Fluttershy looked up at him, wide eyed, tears rolling down her face.

The Chieftain stared back into her eyes. He considered the ramifications for his planned actions.

"Forgive me." The brute said to her as he lifted his hammer. "Find peace in the next world."

Fluttershy watched the brutes hammer as it rose over its head. When it stopped she instinctively covered her eyes with her hooves.

The chieftain then howled with rage and brought the hammer down.

_CRACK!_

Fluttershy laid there, helpless, waiting for the end. She heard the brute let out a terrible roar and braced for the worst. Then she heard a horribly sick wet cracking noise and felt something warm and wet drip onto her face.

Slowly, she moved her hooves from her eyes and looked up. Towering over her she saw the strange creature she had saved the other night.

It stood over her, on hand gripping the hammer under the head, and the other balled into a fist.

The brute, dumbfounded, merely let out a huff.

Slowly, the creature forced the hammer to the left out of the way of Fluttershy. As It did this, It moved its face closer to the brutes.

A few moments passed and the creatures face was mere inches from the brutes face. Staring deep into the brutes eyes, the creature spoke up, its mandibles moving as it spoke.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" It hissed out before it drew its fist back and slammed it into the brutes face. Fluttershy heard several wet cracks as the brute fell back, letting go of its hammer.

The brute landed a few feet away in a heap, its face bleeding and swelling up. The other brutes merely took a step back and stared at the creature, then to their chieftain, then back to the creature.

The creature merely looked back to the pack and huffed what sounded like a mocking laugh.

"HERATIC!" One of the brutes pointed and yelled out. "TEAR IT APAR-…"

The rest of the brutes words stopped instantly. Fluttershy could have sworn she had seen a silver flash just then. The brute then moved started to move its hands toward its throat. Fluttershy followed the brutes movements as his hands hovered around its neck.

There in its neck was a small, black handle with a bit of silver sticking into the brutes fur covered neck. Then she saw blood started to flow out of the wound.

The brute muttered some words out as it fell to its knees, but they became unintelligible as blood filled its mouth. It fell on its face and died.

The other brutes turned back to the creature as its human companion ran up beside it.

"You just had to run up, didn't you?" It said.

The creature just shock its head. "What was I supposed to do? It was going to kill her!"

The human took a quick glance at Fluttershy before turning back to face the brutes. "Yea I know, but did you have to be all dramatic? Couldn't you have just moved her out of the way?"

"Would've taken to long." It replied.

"Idiot." The human replied coldly as it brought its fists to chest level. "Now they're going to kill us."

"Not if we kill them first." The strange creature replied back as it took a battle stance.

"Good luck with that." The human shot back. He looked at the pack, noting that they had spread out, surrounding the two. The human nudged his head. "I go right. You go left."

"Got it." The creature replied as it turned to Fluttershy. "You might want to run."

Fluttershy took the creatures advice and took off back towards town, leaving the two alone to contend with a pack of bloodthirsty brutes.

(**On Your Knees/Maniacs****- Jeff Williams- Red Vs. Blue season 9 soundtrack**)

10. That's how many brutes Adam counted that surrounded he and Zhar. He cursed Zhar for his impulsiveness, whishing he had taken more time to come up with a better plan of attack rather than just running straight into the fray.

_But what are you gonna do? _ He reasoned with himself. He couldn't fault Zhar for his reasoning, no matter how impulsive he could be.

The brutes grew furious, filled with rage towards the two strangers. Adam decided it couldn't be helped. Right now armed confrontation seemed like the only solution.

"Here." Adam said as he handed Zhar the energy sword. Zhar took it but didn't energize it.

"Thanks." He said back. "Was wondering where I put that."

"Shut up." Adam replied harshly. "On three…"

Zhar nodded and spread his legs, ready to move. Adam took a good look at the rest of the brutes. He knew the one Zhar had knocked out wasn't getting back up, plus the one he killed meant that they had to deal with 10 angry brutes ready to tear their eyes out.

One of the brutes roared out and the others charged.

Adam and Zhar moved at the same time, Adam going right, Zhar going left. Adam hoped that this would force the remaining brutes to divide their efforts, meaning both he and Zhar would have to deal with 5 brutes each.

Obviously this wasn't the case.

Most of the brutes went for Zhar. Zhar ducked underneath the first brute and drove his fist into the stomach of the one behind it.

Adam turned his head just in time to see three brutes break off from the main charge and head straight toward him.

Adam side stepped the first brute, causing it to lose its balance and fall to the ground. The second one was too close for Adam to safely doge, so Adam drew back his fist and slammed it into the brutes face, causing its legs to swing out and fall straight onto it back.

The third brute, its fist drew back, swung toward Adam.

Adam moved his head out of the brute's fists path. Then he grabbed its arm and with his other hand, drove it, palm flat, into the brutes elbow, causing it to bend up. The brute let out a cry of pain.

Adam then grabbed onto the brutes shoulder, picked up his foot, and drove it into the brute's knee, causing it to bend backwards, enticing an even more agenizing cry of pain from it.

Adam then backed up grabbed the back of the brutes head, and slammed it into the ground. The brute let out a soft yelp of pain as it died.

Adam then turned to see the first brute charge toward him again, only this time armed with a curved knife.

The brute held the knife blade in his hand and raised it over his head. Adam again was too close to safely dodge.

The brute grabbed a handful of Adams shirt and brought the knife down.

Adam grabbed the brute's wrist before the blade made contact and put his knee into its midsection, causing the brute to release Adam's shirt. Then Adam, still holding the brutes wrist, moved behind it.

Adam forced the brutes arm down, causing it to stab itself with its own knife. The brute let go of the knife handle in response and looked down. Adam grabbed the knife handle and jerked it up, then pulled it out, causing blood to gush out of the brute's stomach.

The brute, horrified, brought up its hands to stop its guts from spilling out of its body. Its eyes rolled back into its head and fell to the ground, dead.

"Huh." Adam said to himself, knife in hand. That was definitely easier than Adam initially thought. He turned back around to see the remaining seven surrounding Zhar. Not surprisingly, Zhar was holding up just fine. It was only until another brute with a knife moved behind Zhar that Adam spoke up.

"Down!" Adam shouted as he ran up behind the flanking brute. He flipped the knife in his hand and drove it into the brutes back, right between the shoulder blades. The brute screamed in pain as Adam jumped up onto the brutes shoulders. Adam then spotted another brute on the other side of Zhar, trying to flank him. Using the brute as a springboard, Adam jumped off.

Fortunately Zhar had heard the human and ducked down and Adam flew right over him. He brought his foot up and kicked it straight into the brutes face. He then kicked it in the chest and rode the brute down. Adam felt a moment of resistance when the brute's skull gave way when it impacted with the ground.

Adam jumped off the brutes dead body and next to Zhar. "Nice kick." Zhar said as Adam brought his fists up.

"Thanks." Adam replied. His eyes darted between the remaining brutes surrounding the two. Adam caught them glancing at each other. He knew what they were thinking. How could a "pathetic and weak" human and a Sangheilie wrench possibly take on a full pack of their best warriors?

"You seem to be the popular one." Adam remarked as the remaining five brutes surrounded them.

"I know." Zhar replied, chuckling.

"You think it's funny?"

"Kinda." Zhar replied. "Really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside."

"I see." Adam said as he turned back to the brutes.

The rest of them mustered up their courage and charged. Zhar Ducked right and energized his energy sword. HE pushed the blade into the nearest brute's midsection and pushed it away. HE moved to the right as another brute came up from behind him. The brute missed Zhar and punched its comrade in the face, causing it to sprawl to the ground.

Zhar grasped his fists together and brought them down onto the back of the brutes head. A small bit of blood came out of the brute's head as it slammed into the ground.

Zhar turned his head to see another brute charge him. Zhar kicked his leg out and it connected with the brutes gut. It dubbed over and threw up.

"Ah, really?" Zhar shot out. He grabbed the brutes head and brought his knee into its face. Blood spewed from its face as it fell back.

Zhar turned to see Adam finishing off a brute that had tried to flank him.

Adam fixed his shirt and took a look around, observing the scene.

12 dead or dying brutes lay around the two.

"We done?" Zhar asked Adam as he bent down and retrieved his knife from the brute's neck. He shock the blood off the smooth blade and sheathed it.

Zhar bent over and retrieved his energy sword. "Not quite." Adam responded when he heard a muffled moan from behind him. He turned to see the chieftain crawling on all fours, trying desperately to reach its hammer.

Adam walked over to the brute and kicked it violently in the ribs, turning it over onto its back. Zhar placed his foot onto its chest.

"Can you understand me?" Adam asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Zhar put pressure on the brutes chest. I coughed up blood and slowly growled.

Adam took that as a yes.

"Who sent you?" Adam asked. The brute turned its head and spat blood mixed spit at Adams boot.

Adam walked over and kicked it into the ribs. "Tell me." He demanded.

The brute laughed weakly. "Never."

Zhar applied more pressure to the brutes chest, causing the brute to cry out weakly in pain. Zhar then bent over, powered on his energy sword, and cut the brutes arm.

The brute roared with pain. Zhar stomped his foot onto the chieftains chest, knocking the wind out of it.

"Answer the question." Zhar hissed out, angry.

The brute again let out a weak laugh. "Do what you will heretic. All I will tell you is that I am sent by one who wants to change this world and the inhabitants for the better. You're interference will only bring more pain and suffering towards these noble creatures."

"Who sent you?" Zhar roared at the brute, interrupting it. He applied more pressure to the brutes chest.

The brute cringed with pain, but still managed a weak, mocking laugh. Spitting blood, it gave its answer.

"Faith…" It said weakly.

Zhar, finally having enough, lifted his foot off the brute's chest. The brute breathed a small breath of relief as Zhar lifted his foot and curb stomped its head in. Its body twitched once, and then laid still.

Adam didn't say anything the whole time. There was no point. Trying to reason with an enraged Elite was like putting a loaded gun strapped with C5 to one's head.

Zhar took a few heavy breaths before finally looking towards the sky and let out a roar from the bottom of his lungs. Then he looked back down and closed his eyes, finally calming down.

"You done?" Adam said as he patted him on the shoulder.

Zhar looked at his human companion and nodded. "Yea. Sorry."

Zhar walked away as Adam kneeled down near the dead chieftain. He searched its body and found a long, black rectangular prism. He placed the object in his back pocket.

_Faith_. Adam thought to himself. Somehow that sounded a bit familiar.

"You're right." Zhar finally said at last. "It's about time we got some goddamn answers."

"Glad we're finally in agreement." Adam replied as he stood up. "And fortunately for us, I know exactly where to get them." He started to walk back down the road back to town. "Come on. Put on your best pair of dress pants. We have an audience with royalty."

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she just saw. One minute ago 12 brutes stood at the entrance to town, ready to tear it apart and the next minute they were all dead.

She just flouted there in the library, dumbstruck as Adam and Zhar walked back in.

For a minute they just all just stood there, completely silent.

_Talk about awkward_. Adam thought to himself.

Finally Zhar broke the silence. "So… Anyone hungry?"

Pinkie Pie immediately shot her hoof up. "I am! I am!"

Zhar looked at her. "Terrific." He said. He looked over to the side of the room and saw Fluttershy laying in the corner with her hooves covering her face, surrounded by the three fillies from earlier. They backed up as Zhar walked over to them. He knelt down.

"Are you ok?" Zhar asked her. She took a small peek from behind her legs. She stared at him for a moment before she nodded her head slowly. Zhar breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."

Adam didn't say much to this. Zhar was always good with civilians, even though Adam had no idea why.

Fluttershy continued to examine the Elite. "You're bleeding…" She said quietly.

Zhar looked himself over to find out what the shy Pegasus was talking about. He then looked down at his palm and saw a small stream of his blood leaking down his arm. HE whipped the blood off with his thumb. His mandibles flexed into a smile.

"Relax." HE said to her. "It's just a scratch." He said as he rolled his wrist. HE winched from the sudden pain. "And a small compound fracture."

Adam walked over to Zhar and put his hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"

Zhar rolled his wrist again and nodded. "I'll live."

"Good." Adam said. He turned to Rainbow Dash next. "Now can we see the Princess?"

Dash nodded and moved to the door. Pinkie Pie walked over to Fluttershy and the girls and followed Dash out.

Zhar took a glance at Adam and followed the others out. Adam lingered for a moment in the library.

He pulled his pistol and the long black rectangle out of his back pocket. He inserted the rectangle into the pistol and pulled the chamber back. He heard a click and he placed the handgun back into the holster. He turned around and followed Zhar out of the library.

Adam was going to get the answers he wanted, one way or the other.

**And that's it for this installment! HAHA! XD**

**So anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Things are really starting to get intense! A confrontation with the Princess? Will Adam and Zhar find out the truth to their presence in Equestria? **

**Will they find their way back to their own universe?**

**Will updates ever be more frequent?**

**HAHA. Anyway, sorry to all of you who waited so long for this chapter to come out. It really hurts me to think about how long it takes me to write these.**

**Then it dawned on me. I don't give a half flying crap how long it takes me to write these! XD Hell, I could stop writing these things tomorrow if I wanted to! No skin off my neck!**

**JK. I would never do that to you guy's. Not after how awesome you guys have been. (And the one girl who read's this. I know who you are…)**

**Anyway, I promise that I'll try to get these chapters out more frequently. Between school, work, homework, housework, and general goofing off, I've just had a hard time forcing myself to keep writing.**

**But that WILL change, I swear.**

**Anyway, be sure to review and subscribe you lazy bastards… For so many view I sure haven't got many reviews…**

**Let's see, what else… (shuffles papers) Aw, yes, Thank you for reading this chapter. If at any time you scratched your genitals during the course of the reading… cut it out, that's disgusting.**

**Till next time my loyal minions!**

**Next Chapter: **A wonderfully half-assed rescue.


	4. Chapter 4

_Adam sat underneath the tree as the rain continued to fall. Some say that it's unwise to sit underneath a tree during a thunderstorm, but Adam never paid any mind to their warnings. He found the bright flashes and following crash of thunder relaxing._

_Maybe even comforting_

_Adam looked up into the dark clouded sky as the rain continued to fall, every now and then blinking when a raindrop would hit his eye._

_He looked down to the assault rifle lying in his lap. The ammo counter read 32. He pulled the lever back and cycled a round into the chamber. He leaned the weapon over to verify that the safety was on. _

_Satisfied, he looked back up to see a streak of lightning racing through the sky toward the ground. He closed his eyes in anticipation for the boom that would follow._

_He then reached inside his pocket and fished out the necklace that Luna had given him. Holding it by the chain, he held it up and studied the symbol of the sun on it. Then he turned the swivel on the bottom, flipping the symbol of the sun to the symbol of the moon on the opposite side._

_Satisfied with his observations, he draped the necklace over his neck and tucked it in under his shirt, next to his dog tags. He then rested his hands on his rifle, one on the stock and the other gripping the handle lightly. He looked back into the sky to see another lightning bolt flash, lighting up the clouds overhead._

_He quickly stood up and rolled forward as the tree behind him exploded into tiny splinters._

_Not breaking his stride, he rolled to his feet and pumped his body forward, dodging the random explosions around him. HE ran until he reached a short cliff and jumped. He landed on his feet with a small splash. _

_He stood up to see a pack of bloodthirsty brutes surrounding him, all weapons trained on him. _

_A crack of thunder broke the silence. Adam exhaled and saw his own breath._

_The brutes all began to huff with a shared hatred of the human. Only a roar from behind them stayed their wrath._

_A flash of lighting fell from the sky as a massive, light grey brute in dark, brilliant armor appeared from behind the group. As it walked toward the middle, the other brutes took steps back, giving the dominating brute a wide birth. _

_The brute then glared at the lone Spartan. Adam returned the stare._

_The brute let out a growl as it reached over its shoulder and pulled over its massive stone hammer._

_Adam raised his assault rifle to chest level, flicking off the safety._

_For a moment no one moved. It was only when the inevitable crack of thunder did the brute let out a massive roar and charge, straight toward Adam._

_Adam stood his ground and fired back._


End file.
